Cry to Me
by Nulla Salus
Summary: A visitor from the future reveals some startling truths of what could come to pass. (Intended to take place after the events that occurred in "Sam I Am" ("Daddy Dearest") and does not take into account the rest of season five.)
1. Chapter 1

After a morning of shopping for herbs and other potion ingredients in China Town, Paige sighed with relief when she entered the foyer of the manor. The protection spell she had been working on for months still wasn't quite finished, despite the hours of work she put into it each day. Paige would have loved nothing more than to give Piper the potion as a baby present, but she was running out of time.  
  
Hanging up her jacket, Paige headed for the kitchen for yet another trial run, but stopped short when she saw Piper, sitting very calmly in an easy chair in the living room reading a magazine.  
  
"Uh, Piper?" Paige asked hesitantly.  
  
"Hmm?" Piper answered without glancing up.  
  
"You're in exactly the same spot you were when I left. Have you been sitting there the entire time I was gone?"  
  
"Pretty much." Piper put down the magazine and wriggled in the chair a little, trying to get comfortable.  
  
Placing her bags of supplies on the love seat, Paige moved to sit on the coffee table across from her sister. "Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine." Piper tried to brush off Paige's concern, but Paige glared at her with a knowing look. Piper sighed. "It's just that when I'm standing up and moving around it feels like the baby's going to fall out and my balance is off so I feel like I'm going to fall over, so staying put seems to be the best option."  
  
Paige made a face at the mental imagery. "Okay, way too much information."  
  
Piper smiled playfully at her. "Well, you asked." Despite the lightness of her comment, she quickly became introspective again.  
  
Paige noticed the sudden change in her sister and almost felt a little hurt. Piper had been different lately around everyone, but she couldn't help but feel excluded whenever Piper seemed to distance herself from Paige. After knowing her sisters for almost two years, Paige still felt very much like an outsider. She understood that compared to how long Piper and Phoebe had known each other she was practically a stranger, but Paige wished that they could feel comfortable enough with her not to hide things. Shaking off her feelings of insecurity, Paige tried to draw Piper out of her shell.  
  
"So now that you are officially full term, are you getting excited?"  
  
Piper rolled her eyes and pressed her face into her hands. "Oh, don't remind me. I've been trying to block out the fact that I could go into labor practically any minute for the past hour." Paige laughed at Piper's dramatics and placed a reassuring hand on Piper's knee. Gratefully, Piper took Paige's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Half of the time, I feel like I've been pregnant forever and I can't wait for this baby to be born, and then the other half I'm scared to death."  
  
Once the words were out, Piper felt almost relieved. It was difficult for her to admit to everyone, especially to Leo, how insecure she had been feeling recently. Oh, sure, her sisters and Leo probably suspected that she was nervous about giving birth and becoming a mother, but they had no idea how deeply terrified she really felt.  
  
Paige cast a sympathetic look at her sister, and began to give Piper her weekly little pep talk, but Piper interrupted her before she could say a word.  
  
"I know what you're going to say, Paige, and I appreciate it, but..." Piper trailed off, sighing, trying to find the right words to express how she felt. "I just don't want to suck at this, you know?"  
  
"At what? Being a mother?"  
  
"Yeah. I don't want my kid to end up on one of those Jerry Springer talk shows when she's eighteen, talking about how, 'My mother was a Charmed One, my father was a whitelighter, which made me a super-powerful witch. I was raised in a closet because my aunts had to live with us for protection and we didn't have an extra bedroom. Oh, and Uncle Cole: he became the Source of All Evil and tried to kill my mother and my aunts, and that was before he went crazy.' Knowing my track record, I'll probably turn into a vampire, a zombie and the creature from the Black Lagoon by the time she's five."  
  
Even though she tried not to, Paige chuckled at Piper's inventions. "Did anyone ever tell you that you worry too much?"  
  
"Hmm," Piper replied with a smirk.  
  
Trying to compose a more serious expression, Paige took one of Piper's hands in both of hers. "Piper, you are not going to suck at motherhood. You're going to be a great mom."  
  
"But how do you know that?"  
  
"Well, look at how Phoebe turned out," Paige joked with a smile.  
  
Piper narrowed her eyes at her. "Cute. Besides, if she's the example of my parenting skills, this baby is in big trouble. As much as I love Phoebe, I do not want my daughter to take a stab at being the Queen of the Underworld."  
  
"Piper, in all seriousness, I know that you are going to be a wonderful mother. You're caring, and loving and giving--though your patience could use a little work." Piper smiled and looked down, slightly embarrassed, but Paige could tell that her words were affecting her, which gave her a little surge of confidence. "I know how much you and Leo wanted a baby, and what you went through trying to get pregnant. I know how much you are going to love this baby and how much you and Leo love each other. And if you can just surround her in that love, you're going to be fine."  
  
Even though she was trying not to cry, Piper felt her eyes grow teary. She managed to gather enough strength to look up at her sister who looked back at her with such love and caring in her eyes.  
  
"Thank you," Piper whispered.  
  
"You're welcome." Paige gave Piper's hand one last squeeze before standing up to head into the kitchen.  
  
"Paige." She stopped when she heard Piper quietly murmur her name. Paige turned around to look at her sister, who remained sitting very still for a few moments before struggling, belly first, out of the chair and on to her feet. Staring at the floor and wringing her hands, Piper closed the small space between herself and Paige in a few steps.  
  
Finally managing to raise her eyes and meet Paige's gaze, Piper very slowly said, "I love you."  
  
Paige felt her breath catch a little in her throat and a nauseous, but good feeling rise in her stomach. Piper had never said those words to her before.  
  
"I-- I love you too," Paige managed to say, her eyes tearing over.  
  
Piper smiled widely and then tried to make light of the situation, saying, "Well, that wasn't so hard."  
  
"No, it wasn't," Paige admitted, brushing the tears from her eyes.  
  
Piper laughed sheepishly, and held her arms out to Paige. "Well, don't just stand there. Give me a hug. Or at least try to," she added, glancing down at her belly.  
  
The sisters hugged, though somewhat awkwardly, and as Piper held her baby sister, she shut her eyes tightly and felt for the first time in a long while that everything was going to be okay. That no matter what life threw at her, trying to tear her apart, that everything would come back together again eventually. She realized that all of her worrying about opening up her heart to a new sister was for nothing--no amount of willpower could have kept her from loving Paige.  
  
"Okay, enough of these emotional moments," Paige said as she stopped hugging Piper and wiped the tears from her face with the palm of her hand. "If you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen working on the protection spell."  
  
"Thanks, but don't worry about me," Piper replied. "Since Ava told me that I could deliver any day, and I was dumb enough to tell my husband that, Leo has set his radar on extra sensitive."  
  
At the mention of his name, Leo orbed into the room, causing Piper and Paige to jump a little in surprise.  
  
"You called?" Leo asked his wife.  
  
Piper sighed. "See?" Paige smiled, and patted Leo, who gave her a confused look, on the shoulder before excusing herself to go to the kitchen. "No, honey, I didn't call."  
  
"Oh, I thought you did."  
  
Piper couldn't help but smile at him. No matter how much he was getting on her nerves by being so overprotective, his concern for her was undeniably sweet.  
  
"Piper, are you okay?" Leo asked after noticing his wife's reddened eyes. "You look like you've been crying."  
  
"Oh, I'm fine," Piper waved off his concern. "Paige and I just had a sister moment."  
  
"Oh," Leo smiled warmly. He was glad to see, or at least hear that his wife was finally letting Paige into her heart. "Is there anything you need while I'm here?"  
  
Piper sighed inwardly and considered her words carefully before she spoke. "Honey, as much as I appreciate your concern, don't you think that you're being just a little overprotective of me?"  
  
Leo's mouth opened slightly in surprise. "I don't think I'm being that overprotective."  
  
"Leo, you orbed in earlier when I tore a hangnail. I think that's being a little too protective."  
  
Leo's face reddened in embarrassment. "Well, I was just--"  
  
Piper shushed him, placing her hands on his chest. "I know you're worried about me, and I love you for that. But all of this orbing in every three seconds is just making me even more nervous than I all ready am, and I think it's making you frazzled."  
  
Leo knew his wife was right, but he couldn't help but feel anxious and protective of Piper. He put his hands on Piper's waist and pulled her close to him so that her stomach was pressed firmly against him.  
  
Piper smiled at the gesture and gave him a quick kiss. "So, I want you try to concentrate on whatever it is you're doing, and I promise you the second something baby-related happens, I will yell so loud that you won't need your powers to hear me calling."  
  
Leo smiled. "Okay, I'll try."  
  
Piper gave him a playfully scrutinizing look, as if she was trying to determine his sincerity. "Okay."  
  
After they kissed, Leo placed a hand on Piper's stomach and leaned down. "Good bye, little..." Pausing, Leo glanced up at Piper. "Elizabeth?"  
  
Sighing, Piper wrinkled her forehead in consideration. "It's a little common. Amelia?" Leo shrugged and shook his head from side to side in indifference. "Okay, we'll talk about it later."  
  
Raising his brow, Leo straightened. "You know, we should probably decide on a name soon. The baby's not exactly going to name itself and you could go into la--"  
  
"Ah ah!" Piper held up a hand to shush him. "Don't even say it."  
  
"Okay," Leo said raising his hands to admit defeat. "Well, good bye, little one." He kissed Piper's tummy and then kissed Piper one final time before orbing out.  
  
"I will be so glad when people stop talking to my body parts," Piper mumbled as she settled back down into the easy chair, resuming browsing through her magazine. After a few moments, she noticed a familiar white light come from behind her and Piper laughed to herself.  
  
"Leo, you didn't even last five minutes--" Piper began, but she stopped when she saw a young girl, about sixteen years old, standing in the middle of the foyer where she had expected her husband to be.  
  
"Uh--" Piper struggled to her feet and tried to freeze the girl, but it didn't work. "Can I...help you?"  
  
The girl opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words came out. She looked like she was in shock--her arms were trembling as she drew them closer to her body.  
  
Piper, still uncertain of whom and what this girl was, approached her cautiously, but with concern. "Are you okay?" Piper asked tentatively.  
  
Again, the girl opened her mouth slowly, but before she could speak, she fell to the floor.  
  
"Paige!" Piper yelled, as she hurried as fast as she could over to the girls' unmoving form.  
  
Paige ran in from the kitchen. "Piper, what's--" She paused when she saw the girl lying unconscious on the floor. She rushed to Piper's side and kneeled next to the girl. "Who--"  
  
"I don't know. She just appeared. And she fainted before she could say anything." Paige pressed her fingers against the girl's pulse. "Is she okay?"  
  
"Well, her heart's beating and she's breathing."  
  
"Leo!" Piper called, and a few seconds later Leo orbed into the living room. "Help us get her onto the couch."  
  
Throwing a questioning look at his wife, but without asking, Leo carefully lifted the girl from the floor and deposited her on the couch.  
  
"Piper, are you sure we should be taking care of her? What if she's a demon or a warlock or something?" Paige asked as Piper sat on the couch next to the girl.  
  
"Wait, is someone going to tell me what's happening?" Leo inquired.  
  
Piper looked up at her husband and sister. "Leo, we don't know what's going on. She just appeared."  
  
"Again, how do we know she's not a demon?" Paige asked.  
  
"She didn't freeze, when I tried to use my power on her. Good witches don't freeze."  
  
"Well, neither do upper-level demons," Paige retorted.  
  
"I don't think she's evil. When she appeared, there was a light like when Leo orbs in. Could she be a whitelighter?" Piper looked to her husband.  
  
Leo studied her face more carefully. "If she is, I've never seen her before. Whitelighters usually aren't that young either."  
  
Paige was still unconvinced that the girl wasn't evil. "Piper, what if--"  
  
"Paige, you can sense evil, can't you? Do you sense it from her?"  
  
Crossing her arms over her chest defensively, Paige approached the girl cautiously. "I don't know if I can sense on command. I've just always had a feeling."  
  
"Well, try," Piper encouraged.  
  
Not completely sure of what she was doing, Paige kneeled beside the couch and tentatively placed a hand over the girl's heart. With a deep breath, she began to concentrate, trying to imagine that she could see into the girl's inner nature. When Paige began to feel the girl's magic run through her, she gasped softly in surprise. She could feel the girl's energy inside of her, working its way through her system, bathing her in a white light that almost comforted her. Opening her eyes, Paige sat back and tried to catch her breath. She had stopped breathing somehow.  
  
"Paige, are you all right?" Leo entreated with his concern apparent in his voice.  
  
"I'm fine. And so is she. She's not evil." A little stunned by her own power, Paige quietly stood up and moved to sit on the chair next to the sofa.  
  
After a few minutes, the girl began to regain consciousness, shifting a little on the sofa. Piper smoothed the hair back from her face as the girl's eyes opened and she blinked uncertainly.  
  
"Hi," Piper said warmly, smiling down at her. "Are you okay? You took quite a spill."  
  
The girl stared up at her for a few moments, her eyes beginning to tear up. "Mom."  
  
Piper's breath caught in her throat. Did the girl just call her...? She spoke so quietly, Piper couldn't be sure.  
  
The girl sat up slowly and looked at Piper more closely. "Mom," she repeated before throwing her arms around Piper's neck.  
  
Piper cast a stunned glance at Paige and Leo who stared back at her in shock. 


	2. Chapter 2

Piper opened the door to her bedroom very quietly, the light from the hallway streaming into the darkened room and illuminating the sleeping figure in the bed.  
  
The girl had called her "mom."  
  
That was the only word she had managed to say before she had lost consciousness again and Leo had carried her upstairs to rest. He had gone to ask the Elders if they knew anything about the situation--Piper wasn't counting on them to provide any useful information, but Leo had been gone for four hours.  
  
Piper wasn't quite sure what emotions were running through her, but she did know that confusion overwhelmed everything else. Could that be her daughter? Piper knew that it was possible. She had traveled to the past and had seen her mother and she had been sent to the future and had seen her daughter. Nothing was impossible when it came to their magic.  
  
But if it was her daughter, Piper almost wished that she would never wake up. Whatever had caused her to travel to the past could not have been good. The girl's emotional state seemed proof enough of that.  
  
With one final glance at the girl, Piper soundlessly closed her bedroom door. But when she turned around she yelped in surprise at almost running into Phoebe and Paige. Piper covered her mouth with her hand to muffle the noise as her sisters shushed her.  
  
"Don't 'shh!' me. Why did you sneak up on me like that?" Piper asked quietly.  
  
"Sorry, we thought you heard us," Paige admitted at a normal volume.  
  
Piper put a finger to her lips and motioned for her sisters to follow her as she walked down the hall the Phoebe's bedroom and shut the door. "Phoebe, when did you get home?" Piper asked once they once they were inside.  
  
"Just a few minutes ago. Paige filled me in on what happened."  
  
Piper nodded absent-mindedly and nervously began shifting her weight from foot to foot.  
  
"So..." Phoebe said, trying to get Piper's attention, "do you think that's little, uh..." She trailed off, pointing at Piper's belly.  
  
Piper placed her hands protectively on her stomach. "I don't know. She called me...mom and she hugged me, but she was clearly in shock so she might have just been confused. And she fainted again before she had a chance to recognize Leo or Paige."  
  
"And we're sure she's not evil?" Phoebe threw a glance at Paige.  
  
Paige shook her head. "She's not evil. I don't know how to explain it, but I tapped into her energy somehow and it made me feel safe and comforted." Piper and Phoebe both gave her confused looks. "She's not evil," Paige stated again firmly.  
  
White light filled the room as Leo orbed in, his brow furrowed. "Is she still asleep?"  
  
"Yeah. What did you find out?" Piper took Leo's hand in hers, and he pressed it warmly. He felt just as conflicted as Piper at the prospect that the girl asleep in their bed could be their daughter.  
  
"Not surprisingly, not much." Piper sighed in disappointment. "After a lot of chanting and meditating and seeing into the future, all the Elders could conclude was that if she is from the future--which there's a good chance that's true--she was not sent back by their magic."  
  
"What does that mean?" Paige asked.  
  
"Normally, witches don't have enough power to open portals through time. The Elders do it for them when needed or to teach witches lessons by giving them a glimpse of the past or future."  
  
"Like when we went to the future after I had that premonition of being burned at the stake," Phoebe interjected.  
  
Leo nodded before continuing. "You guys will become the first witches that have enough power to move through time without the help of the Elders. And apparently, that girl in there has enough power as well. But because the Elders didn't, or don't, send her here, they don't have a way of finding out who she is."  
  
"So, basically, the Elders don't have any idea who she is, but they do know she's super-powerful," Paige concluded.  
  
"Basically, yes," Leo confirmed.  
  
"I don't know why we still bother to ask them anything," Phoebe mused aloud as she sat cross-legged at the foot of her bed. "So what do we do?"  
  
"We wait," Piper said quietly before leading Leo by the hand down the hall to their bedroom. 


	3. Chapter 3

As she woke, slowly as if emerging from a fog, she thought that maybe everything had been a dream--what she had seen was only a nightmare. But then she realized that she wasn't sleeping in her bed, in her bedroom. A cold, alien feeling crept through her as she tried to lie very still even though every fiber in her body was screaming for her to run. Then there was a smell--a vaguely familiar scent that she couldn't quite place. Turning her face into the pillow, she breathed it in, taking it deep into her body.  
  
"Mommy," she murmured as she recognized the scent. She felt her grief well up inside of her, the pressure of it building and building, blocking all of her senses, until it forced its way out of her and she sobbed into the pillow.  
  
All of the sudden there were arms surrounding her, someone lifting her up and pressing her close, giving her warmth and comfort. She clung to her faceless comforter and lost herself to her grief, tears falling until she had none left to cry, but still she sobbed.  
  
Time passed, but she didn't know how much--it seemed like she cried for hours, but maybe just minutes had gone by. Eventually she managed to loosen her hold on her comforter and she pressed her hands to her damp face. She felt the weight on the bed lessen as the person sitting next to her stood up.  
  
"Please don't leave me," she pleaded, panicked that she would be left alone again.  
  
"I'm not leaving. I'm just turning on a light," a voice answered before a click sounded and light filled the room.  
  
She knew from the voice who was standing beside the bed, waiting patiently for her to open her eyes. She drew an unsteady breath and forced herself to slowly raise her eyelids.  
  
"Mom."  
  
Piper rocked nervously from side to side. She had an idea of what she should do, but not an inkling of whether she had the strength.  
  
As gently as she could, Piper asked, "Who do you think I am?"  
  
For just an instant, Piper saw hurt flicker in the girl's wet, hazel eyes, but then it was replaced by understanding as the girl breathed deeply and replied, "You're Piper Halliwell, a Charmed One. And you're my mother."  
  
Piper felt as though someone had hit her--not in the face, or in the stomach, but in her heart. She stared at the girl intently.  
  
She has my eyes, she thought. My hair, Leo's chin...  
  
"Leo," Piper said quietly and quickly orbs began to form until they took the shape of her husband.  
  
"Daddy." The girl threw herself at Leo, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly. Overwhelmed with emotions, Leo looked over at Piper who was silently crying and she nodded. A little uncertainly, Leo placed his hands on the girl's back, gently pulling her closer to him.  
  
Wordlessly, Piper embraced her husband and her daughter, tenderly stroking the hair back from her tear-streaked face, and Piper knew somehow that they were a family.  
  
"Piper, is everything--" Paige called as she opened the door to the bedroom. She stopped short when she saw the three of them hugging. "I guess everything is okay."  
  
Glancing around Leo, the girl noticed Paige and her eyes widened in surprise. "Paige!" she cried as she almost knocked Paige over trying to hug her.  
  
"Okay," Paige stammered as she shot Piper and Leo a confused glance. They both just shrugged and drew close to each other, Leo draping an arm across his wife's shoulders and Piper sliding an arm around his waist.  
  
"Hi, there." Trying not to be rude, Paige carefully disentangled herself from the girl's embrace. "And you would be...?"  
  
The girl laughed, though a little sadly, and began wringing her hands self- consciously. Paige noticed the gesture and thought to herself that Piper made the same one when she felt insecure.  
  
"Sorry. You're doubtlessly more confused than I am, and me running around hugging everyone probably isn't helping. It's just I'm so glad that--" She made herself leave her sentence unfinished. Knowing too much about the future could be dangerous--isn't that what Dad always used to tell her? "I'm just glad to see all of you."  
  
"I think we're all just a little..." Leo searched for the right word.  
  
"Overwhelmed," Piper finished for him.  
  
The girl smiled warmly at her and said, "You have no idea, Mom." For the first time in many hours, she felt a surge of hope. Maybe she could make this work. Maybe she could keep it from happening.  
  
"I feel a little silly for having to ask this question," Piper began cautiously. "But, what's your name?"  
  
"Samantha," the girl replied. "My name is Samantha."  
  
"Hmm, not a P," Paige noted.  
  
"And not a relative." Piper glanced up at Leo. "Looks like we break the Halliwell tradition completely."  
  
"You were going to name me Penelope, after great-grandma." Samantha told Piper before looking at Leo. "But Dad--and thank you for this, by the way-- talked you out of it."  
  
"Oh really," Piper remarked, jabbing her elbow playfully into Leo's side.  
  
"Oh," Samantha realized what she had just done and covered her mouth. "I shouldn't have told you that."  
  
"No, it's okay," Leo reassured her. "I doubt anyone's future will be distorted because you told us how we chose your name."  
  
"Except maybe yours, if we decide to change it," Piper acknowledged. "So, do we call you Sam or Samantha?"  
  
"Usually Sam, but either is fine. 'Sam' gets a little confusing when... I probably shouldn't tell you that, either." Samantha furrowed her brow. "This is a lot harder than I thought it would be."  
  
"Uh," Paige touched Samantha's arm to get her attention, "Not to seem rude, but how do we know you are who you say you are?"  
  
With a sly smile, Samantha turned to Paige and crossed her arms over her chest. "You are Paige Matthews, not Halliwell, and you weren't raised by great-grandma like mom was. You were adopted because grandma and her whitelighter did...things they weren't supposed to do, which means you're half-whitelighter, half-witch like I am."  
  
Paige, still hesitant, raised a questioning eyebrow.  
  
Sensing her disbelief, Samantha continued. "Your first boyfriend in high school was named Phillip Lewicky, and he gave you a necklace that you kept in a box under your bed until you graduated from college." Paige's lips parted in surprise. "He's also the one who taught you that you could take your tongue and--"  
  
"Okay!" Paige interrupted, realizing where the anecdote was headed. "I believe her. Let's move on."  
  
"Wait, I'm still not convinced," Piper teased, "I want to hear the end of that story."  
  
"That won't be necessary," Paige said, turning a little red. Samantha couldn't help but laugh quietly at her aunt, who glanced over at her. When their eyes met, Samantha recognized the astonishment and disbelief that must be apparent in her eyes as well, but she also saw understanding and acceptance.  
  
Everything seemed so surreal to her. Samantha knew that this was her family- -these were people she had been raised by, grown up around--but they just felt like part of an elaborate dream that she was having. She half-expected to wake up any moment and find herself in her own time, with her mother making breakfast downstairs, her father off doing whatever it was he did all day, her aunt clomping through the kitchen bringing her mother whatever herbal remedy she had concocted the night before. But that reality was gone- -she couldn't go back to it even if she wanted to. She still had a chance to save it though.  
  
"Piper, Paige? Where did everyone go?"  
  
The voice floated up from downstairs and Samantha's muscles tensed. Piper noticed the sudden change in Samantha's demeanor, and squeezed Leo's arm, trying to determine if he had noticed too.  
  
"Samantha, are you all right?" Leo asked, holding out a hand to her in concern.  
  
A panicked expression crept across her face as Samantha grabbed Leo and Piper's arms. "Mom, Dad, you have to get out of here."  
  
Piper stared at her daughter in confusion. "What are you talking about? Are you okay?"  
  
Samantha ignored their concerned looks and questions, and tensed every muscle in her body. "I can't orb. Why can't I orb?" She was bordering on hysterical as she implored Leo, "What happened to my powers?"  
  
Piper placed her hands on Samantha's shoulders, and gazed steadily into her eyes. "Samantha, calm down. Everything is okay."  
  
"No, you don't understand. If I don't have my powers, I can't protect you and she'll kill you. I can't lose you again." As the meaning of her words sank in, Piper could only stare at her and feel Sam's body begin to shake.  
  
"Dad, please orb us out of here!" Leo considered doing so as he watched his daughter fall apart in front of him, but before he could decide what would be best, Phoebe hurried into the room.  
  
"Piper, what's going on?" she asked, alarmed by Samantha's distressed cries.  
  
When Phoebe entered the bedroom, Samantha turned to face her, her grip on her parents' arms tightening, and she backed toward them protectively, trying to use her body as a barrier between them and Phoebe. Her face paled and her voice wavered, as she said, "Please don't take them. Please, don't take them from me."  
  
Everyone was too stunned too move.  
  
Piper looked to Leo, who was staring at Samantha, who couldn't tear her gaze from Phoebe even though she was trembling more each second. After a moment, Paige forced herself to act, taking hold of Phoebe's arm and leading her out of the room. Casting one final concerned glance at Samantha, Paige closed the door behind her.  
  
Once the door shut Samantha's legs gave out from under her and she sank to the floor. 


	4. Chapter 4

As Leo held Samantha against his chest, rocking her gently, he noticed how small she felt. She curled herself against him, tucking her head under his chin, and she fit so perfectly into the shape of his body--as if somehow she became a part of him. Without really thinking, Leo kissed the top of her head and tightened his hold on her, hoping that through his strength he could stop her limbs from shaking.  
  
Leo glanced over at Piper who was sitting nearby on the edge of their bed, watching and wishing that she could do more. Neither of them really knew what to do, or how to be the parents this girl had known for the fifteen- odd years of her life. All they could hope was that all the comfort and support they could give her would be enough.  
  
"I'm sorry." Samantha's murmured apology was muffled by Leo's shirt.  
  
"You're sorry?" Leo asked, and Sam nodded into his shoulder. "Why are you sorry?"  
  
"I'm sorry I freaked out," Samantha said more clearly as she sat up, pressing her still-trembling arms closer against her body.  
  
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Piper assured her.  
  
"You've experienced things that we can't even fathom," Leo continued. "It's natural that those experiences would affect your reactions to people and things in this time, even though they might not be what you expect."  
  
"I have no idea what happened to bring you here," Piper lied--she did have an inkling. "But I'm sure that coming here must have been very difficult for you to do."  
  
"Doesn't feel like it was that difficult," Sam admitted softly. "It feels like I took the easy way out--like I'm being selfish."  
  
Piper exhaled audibly as she searched for the right thing to say. "I think I have an idea of what you're going through and, believe me, what you're doing is not selfish. It's human."  
  
Piper could remember how persistently she tried to bring Prue back. If she could have gone back in time to save her, she would have in a heartbeat. But she wasn't meant to save her sister despite all of the magic at her disposal, which made Piper believe that Samantha was meant to change something about the present or else she wouldn't be there. Magic always happened for a reason.  
  
"Still, I shouldn't have freaked out like that. I should know that things are different now." Samantha's mouth twitched in a nervous smile. "I'm just having a little trouble adjusting. I keep expecting you to know about things that have happened--or are going to happen--and act like you did--or do--when I was--or will be--" Sam's face screwed up as she struggled with what tense to use.  
  
"It's okay. I think we understand what you mean," Piper reassured her.  
  
"Good, because I don't think I could repeat myself."  
  
"But, Sam, you need to know that Phoebe won't hurt you." When Piper spoke her sister's name, fear flashed in Samantha's eyes, but only for an instant. "No matter whoever, or whatever, she becomes in the future, right now she's a good witch, and she wouldn't harm you."  
  
"I mean, you said it yourself: we're all different from who we will become," Leo added.  
  
Samantha nodded absently as she tried to convince herself of what her parents were saying. They were different; they were still her parents, but something seemed to be missing from both of them.  
  
Her gaze slowly began to wander from Piper's face to linger on her stomach. "So," she began shyly, "is that...me?"  
  
Piper's hands moved reflexively to rest on her belly. "Uh, yeah," she said glancing down. "I guess so."  
  
After hesitating a few moments, Sam asked, "Do you mind if I...?" She trailed off as she extended a hand towards Piper.  
  
"Why not. Complete strangers have been touching my stomach, so I think it would be okay if you did."  
  
Rising from the floor, Samantha sat next to Piper on the bed and reached out an unsteady hand, placing it gently on Piper's tummy.  
  
As soon as Samantha touched her, Piper felt a strange sensation run through her body, which made her flinch only seconds before Sam jumped in surprise.  
  
"Did you feel that?" Piper looked to Sam, who nodded bewilderedly in response.  
  
"Feel what?" Leo asked moving closer to his wife. "Piper, are you--"  
  
"I'm fine, Leo. It's just--my body, it feels like it's...humming."  
  
"Humming?" Leo repeated in confusion.  
  
"I feel something too," Samantha added, her eyes widening in astonishment. "Except it feels like more of a pull."  
  
Piper placed one of her hands on top of Sam's. She felt as though electricity was running through her, slowly growing stronger the longer Sam touched her. "It must be your powers," Piper said quietly.  
  
"My powers?"  
  
"The baby. She has, well, you have... Your powers--" Piper stumbled over the correct phrasing and motioned for Leo to help.  
  
"Because the baby is you in the present, it has your powers, which is why you can't use them," Leo explained.  
  
"But your powers must recognize you or something," Piper suggested. "Maybe they're trying to make a connection."  
  
"Uh huh." Samantha raised an eyebrow skeptically, the strangeness of the situation finally occurring to her. "This is weird," she stated, pulling her hand away and crossing her arms protectively over her stomach.  
  
"Tell me about it." Piper shifted awkwardly as the foreign sensation began to fade and she was left feeling somewhat empty.  
  
Heaving a sigh, Leo rose from the floor to sit next to Piper, who placed a hand on his knee. Leo could sense in that simple gesture that Piper was experiencing the same emotions as he.  
  
Part of him still couldn't reconcile that this girl, this young woman was the daughter that he had yet to even see. He wanted to ask her a thousand questions--if she was happy, if she was miserable, if she would change anything about her life--but he also feared her answers too much to ask them. But even if he could bring himself to ask her those things, Leo knew that he would only be avoiding the inevitable. No matter how much time they spent trying not to address why Samantha had traveled back in time, she still had something that she needed to accomplish. 


	5. Chapter 5

As Paige distractedly tossed potion ingredients into a pot, she stared at Phoebe, who sat sullenly at the kitchen table, gazing out of the window into the night. Phoebe hadn't said a word since Samantha had...  
  
Paige did not know exactly what Sam's outburst meant. While she felt compelled to say something to her sister, Paige had no idea of what words could possibly be appropriate for the situation. She had seen the fear that gripped Samantha just as Phoebe had. How could she possibly say that "everything's going to be fine" or "it's not as bad as you think"?  
  
Just as Paige opened her mouth to offer Phoebe some words of comfort, Piper and Leo entered the kitchen with Samantha trailing a few steps behind them.  
  
"Paige, what are you making?" Piper peered across the kitchen counter and into the pot.  
  
Paige had lost track of what ingredients she had added to the mixture and she stared blankly at the concoction. "This? Oh, nothing really. I was just keeping my hands busy."  
  
"Uh huh. Well, you'd better be careful before you add any more of that. You might have a fairly big explosion on your hands," Piper cautioned.  
  
Paige nodded absently and placed the herb back in its container, as she stared over Piper's head at Sam, hiding behind Leo and looking as though she wished she could disappear.  
  
Samantha pressed herself into a corner of the kitchen, gripping the counter until her knuckles turned white. Cautiously she peered around her father, watching as her... She couldn't call this woman her "aunt," not after all the warnings Paige and her mother had given her about what she might do to the family--not after watching her destroy the people she loved the most.  
  
Sam stopped herself. This woman, who seemed so tiny as she drew her knees up against her chest, was not the person who had threatened her family all of those years. At least she wasn't that person yet. Sam watched as she hesitantly glanced around the room, her gaze meeting Sam's for only an instant before moving away, trying to pretend that she hadn't noticed Sam noticing her. But in that instant, Sam recognized something in her eyes: fear. That was not the cold, hard stare of the person who had let her family die; this woman was as afraid as she was.  
  
Steeling her resolve, Samantha loosened her grip on the counter and pushed herself toward the kitchen table, which stood only a few feet away, but miles seemed to separate her. She felt as though she were walking in water, her movements slowed by some invisible force. Sam concentrated on the chair she tried to reach, hoping that focusing on an object would keep her from retreating back into the corner, hiding childishly behind her parents. After what seemed like hours, her hand finally grasped the wooden back of the chair, and she slowly drew it out, the legs scraping at the floor.  
  
Phoebe breathed in deeply as Samantha sat down across from her, holding her breath for a few seconds before expelling it audibly in one long whoosh. Sam rested her hands on the kitchen table and Phoebe could see them tremble, but her expression revealed her resolve.  
  
Even though the fear in her mounted as she sat staring at this girl who seemed to hold her future in her eyes, Phoebe couldn't help but study Samantha's face. This was the first opportunity Phoebe had had to look at her niece since she had arrived. She has Piper's eyes, she thought.  
  
"You are so beautiful."  
  
Samantha appeared taken aback as her eyes widened in surprise. "Th-- Thank you," she stammered. "I look like my mother," Sam continued after a few uneasy moments of silence.  
  
"I see that." Phoebe smiled warmly. "But I can see a little of Leo in you too."  
  
As Sam stared self-consciously at the table, tucking a loose strand of her long, dark hair behind her ear, Phoebe thought to herself that she was exactly like Piper as a teenager, all awkwardness and timidity.  
  
"What's your name?" Phoebe asked, leaning forward.  
  
"Samantha," she replied shyly.  
  
Phoebe swallowed hard and moved uncomfortably in her chair as she prepared herself for the question she had to ask: the question that had been plaguing her since she watched her niece cower from her in terror. "Samantha, what did I do to you?"  
  
Sam's eyes hardened as she stared at Phoebe, her chest rising and falling with her short, quick breaths. She sat in silence as she tried to find the words to describe what had happened, the scene replaying over and over in her mind. But her brain couldn't translate what she had seen into sentences; her tongue couldn't make the right sounds. After a few minutes, Samantha felt a hand on her shoulder, someone pulling her out of her memories and back to reality.  
  
"Samantha." Her name drifted into her consciousness, and she looked to who had spoken. Her father was sitting next to her, a concerned look on his face that was all too familiar to her. After gazing at her for a few moments, he looked to the person sitting on the other side of her, and she felt someone slipping their hand into hers.  
  
"Sam." Her mother squeezed her hand, and the warmth of her touch seemed to surround Samantha entirely, offering her a promise that her mother would absorb all of her pain if she had the power. "Sam, I know it's difficult, but you need to tell us what happened. You need to tell us why you came here."  
  
Sam nodded, her eyes still vacant and staring. "I know I do. And I want to. But my memory of what happened seems to get blurry whenever I try, and I can't find the right words..."  
  
As Sam lowered her head, her hair fell forward across her face, and Piper reached to brush it behind her ear. "Please try."  
  
Samantha's gaze met Piper's. "You...you die," she said slowly. "You all die." She looked to Paige, who stood silently behind Piper. "It happened so fast when they attacked...I couldn't do anything to stop them."  
  
"Who's 'them'?" Piper asked gently.  
  
"Her," Samantha glanced timidly at Phoebe, "and...him. The demon."  
  
"What demon?"  
  
"I don't know his name," Sam admitted. "But he looked familiar. And he was powerful. He killed...Paige...with..." Her voice grew softer and softer until she spoke at barely a whisper and then she became silent, lost in memories too painful to articulate.  
  
Piper stroked Samantha's hair, and did not press her to continue. She felt so powerless. She could do nothing to stop her daughter from suffering.  
  
"The powerful demon," Paige began hesitantly, drawing Piper out of her reflections. "Do you think that could be..." Even though Paige left her sentence unfinished, everyone knew whom she implied, and the name hung heavily in the space between them.  
  
"Cole." Phoebe verbalized what no one else could. "From what she said, we can't be certain. But I know how we can be."  
  
Piper realized what Phoebe suggested, and her mouth opened slowly in apprehension. "Phoebe, are you sure you want to--"  
  
"Piper, we need to know what happened, and I don't think she's able to tell us." Phoebe's expression hardened. "I want to know what I did."  
  
The sisters stared at each other for several moments, both of them waiting for a sign that indicated the other had conceded. When Phoebe saw the corners of Piper's mouth relax, she knew that Piper had admitted defeat, and Phoebe looked to Samantha, who still sat deep in thought.  
  
"Samantha," Phoebe said firmly, and Sam glanced up at her. "I know that this is hard for you to talk about. But I have a way of seeing what happened, so that you don't have to tell us. I have to touch you though."  
  
After a few seconds, Samantha very tentatively extended her hands across the table. As she stared at the palms of Sam's hands, which looked so vulnerable, Phoebe felt her resolve weaken, her stomach twitch with fear. But before she could back down completely, Phoebe grasped Samantha's hands and immediately a premonition overtook her.  
  
Phoebe watched what happened through the eyes of her future self. She was in the manor, in the midst of the attack, and she blew a powder at Sam that created a force field that imprisoned her. She turned to see Piper fling her hands at her, as if to blow her up, but with a wave of her hand, Phoebe deflected the power and sent Piper flying backwards into a bookshelf. Leo orbed in to try to heal Piper, but she drew an athame from her pocket and hurled it at him. The knife struck Leo in the chest, and his eyes widened before he crumpled to the floor, unmoving. Paige orbed into the room in front of Phoebe, kicking her in the stomach and knocking her to the ground. When Phoebe looked up, Paige was hovering over Piper, trying to help her stand. Reaching into her pocket again, she threw a potion vial at them, but Piper froze it before it could break. Then an energy ball flew at Piper, and struck her in the chest, her body falling heavily to the floor. Phoebe glanced behind her to see Cole, his arm still extended. Phoebe ran to him, but before she could stop him, Cole launched another energy ball, and she turned to see Paige, who was lunging for something, fall to the ground.  
  
As Phoebe emerged from her premonition, she gasped for air, tears stinging her eyes. She felt like her entire body was collapsing inward; she couldn't believe what she had just seen herself do.  
  
"Oh my God," Phoebe sobbed. "Oh my God..." Phoebe looked at Samantha, her vision fuzzy with tears. "Sam, I am so sorry. Oh my God, I am so sorry."  
  
Hurriedly, Phoebe stood up from the table and ran from the kitchen, unable to face her niece who had watched as she had killed her parents. When she reached the foyer, she pressed her back against a wall, slowly sliding downward until she was sitting on the floor. She covered her face with her hands, and her shoulders shook as she cried.  
  
How could she? How could she kill her family? She wouldn't. She would never do that, Phoebe tried to tell herself. But she would--Sam had seen her do it and she had watched as she let her sisters die.  
  
"Phoebe?" She felt someone touch her arm, and she lowered her hands to see Paige crouching next to her. Phoebe reached for her sister, pulling her close and squeezing her tightly. The warmth of Paige's body was comforting, a reassurance that she still could keep what she had seen from happening.  
  
Phoebe's arms tightening against her ribcage felt almost painful, but Paige didn't vocalize her discomfort. As Phoebe cried quietly on her shoulder, Paige smoothed her sister's hair and glanced up at Piper who stood nearby, her mouth drawn in concern. After a few moments, Phoebe drew away from Paige, who handed her a tissue. Gratefully, Phoebe accepted it and wiped the tears from her face.  
  
When her vision cleared, Phoebe noticed Piper standing silently beside her. "Piper." Rising quickly to her feet, she kissed her sister on the cheek and enclosed her in a quick, firm hug. "I am so sorry."  
  
"Phoebe, what did you see?" Piper asked.  
  
"I saw what happened. In the attack." Her sisters waited as she closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on stopping her insides from feeling like they were shaking. "I, uh, I saw Cole kill you."  
  
"So it was Cole," Paige said slowly.  
  
"Yeah." Phoebe focused on twisting her tissue around her finger, as she struggled to tell her sisters what she had seen. "We attacked together, I think. I trapped Sam in a force field, and then Piper tried to use her exploding power on me, but I deflected it or something and you went flying into a wall. Leo orbed in to heal you, but before he could I stabbed him with an athame and he collapsed." Phoebe felt her tears rising in her throat, and she fought to keep from crying. "Then I tried to throw a potion at both of you, but Piper froze it and while she was distracted by that, Cole threw an energy ball at her and..." Tears were running down Phoebe's face and her body felt numb, but somehow she managed to continue. "I tried to stop him, but I couldn't get to him in time and he threw another one at Paige and...he killed her too."  
  
Phoebe felt arms surrounding her, bodies pressing against her, and she tried to accept her sisters' comfort, but she couldn't. She didn't deserve it.  
  
"I killed my family," Phoebe mumbled into Piper's arm.  
  
"Phoebe, that wasn't you," Piper said drawing away from her to look her in the eye.  
  
"But it will be. Don't you understand?" Phoebe's voice broke with emotion. "My future is to kill my sisters."  
  
"That's not your future yet," Paige told her. "We still have time to change it."  
  
"Even so, it wasn't you who killed us--it was Cole," Piper continued. "You said you tried to stop him from killing Paige."  
  
"I killed Leo, Piper." Phoebe saw something flicker in Piper's eyes, and her determined expression wavered. "Even if I don't understand how, it doesn't change the fact that I killed your husband. I put your daughter in danger. Just by being there, I helped Cole kill you."  
  
They stood silently for several moments, Piper and Paige staring solemnly at Phoebe, unable to say anything. Piper broke the silence, saying, "Phoebe, you--"  
  
"Whatever you're going to say, Piper, it's not going to change what I saw." Taking her sisters' hands, Phoebe kissed the back of each one. "I love you both very much, and I'm sorry, but I think I need to be by myself for a little while to think about this."  
  
Giving them a final squeeze, Phoebe released her sisters' hands and walked across the foyer to the staircase. As she began climbing up the stairs to her bedroom, she could feel her sisters' gazes resting on her back. 


	6. Chapter 6

When Piper and Paige walked slowly back into the kitchen, Leo noticed how numb they looked, and almost defeated in a way. Rising from the kitchen table, he approached his wife cautiously and placed a hand on her arm. When she looked up at him, tears glistened in her eyes. He pulled her into an embrace, and Leo could feel her fingers pressing into his back.  
  
"How's Phoebe?" he asked.  
  
"She's..." Piper hesitated, suddenly feeling incredibly helpless that she could say nothing to her little sister that could alleviate her pain.  
  
"We don't really know," Paige admitted. "She's upset and she wants to be by herself for a while."  
  
Leo looked down at Piper, who was pressing her face against the softness of his sweater. "I'm sure she'll feel like talking later," he said as if he could read her thoughts.  
  
Hauling in a deep breath, Piper managed to let go of Leo, even though she wished he could hold her forever. She wanted to listen to his heart beating, feel his lungs expanding, so that she would know that what Phoebe had seen could never happen. "How's Samantha doing?"  
  
"She's--"  
  
"I'm better," Samantha spoke from behind Leo, who turned at the sound of her voice. She stood unsteadily, gripping the back of her chair with a fist. "I just, uh... Could I have some tea, maybe?"  
  
"Sure, honey." Paige moved to the sink, grabbing the teapot from the stove and filling it with water.  
  
With a glance downward, Samantha began pulling at the end of her shirt, fidgeting uncomfortably. She felt exposed to them now, and, oddly enough, like she had betrayed them--as though telling them about their deaths made her somehow responsible for killing them. "So now that you know," Samantha hesitated when she noticed that her mother's gaze wavered, "what do we do?"  
  
Piper shifted a little uncertainly, leaning closer to Leo. "I don't know. Normally I'd say we vanquish whoever is going to kill us, but this time..."  
  
"It's Phoebe," Paige finished.  
  
Piper turned to face her sister. "Paige, don't say that. It's not Phoebe who kills us--it's Cole."  
  
"Piper, you know how much I hate Cole and I would love to blame him for everything, but I can't. Not this time." The vehemence with which she was speaking seemed to illuminate Paige's eyes as they gazed fiercely into Piper's. "You can tell me that the fact that our sister is going to be willing to risk our lives again by being with Cole after we almost died the last time doesn't make you angry?"  
  
Piper stared silently at Paige for a few moments, and then she slowly shook her head. "No, I don't believe that she would do that to us again. Not unless he tricked her or put her under a spell."  
  
As Paige began to argue, the teakettle whistled and she grudgingly closed her mouth, taking the kettle off the stove and pouring the steaming water into waiting mugs.  
  
"She's our sister," Piper said firmly. "She wouldn't do that to us."  
  
"Well, she's done it before," Paige replied quietly under her breath as she added tea leaves to each of the cups.  
  
She's right, Piper thought. She has. Phoebe chose Cole over them and endangered all of their lives--even her daughter's. But she wouldn't, she couldn't, do that to them a second time. Could she?  
  
Piper glanced over her shoulder and she could see Samantha out of the corner of her eye, staying close to Leo as she had been doing only moments before. "Sam?"  
  
Her daughter raised her eyes, which had been focusing so intently on her hand that tugged the bottom of her shirt, to look at her in response.  
  
"Do you know what happened to Phoebe? Why she became..." Piper paused, reluctant to say the word. "Why she left?"  
  
Paige's shoes clacked on the tile floor as she walked from behind Piper over to her niece and handed her a mug, the steam rising ghost-like over the rim. "Be careful. It's hot," Paige warned her as Sam cradled the cup in her hands. She was glad to have something to hold--something to do with herself--so that she could try to hide her awkwardness.  
  
"Did you want sugar or anything?" Paige asked.  
  
Samantha shook her head. "No, thank you." She took a sip of the tea and burned her tongue, but she didn't care. It was better than just standing there not knowing what to say. "I don't really know what happened," Sam admitted after a few moments.  
  
"With Phoebe?"  
  
Sam nodded. "When she...left, I was really young--about six or seven--and ever since then you and Aunt Paige have never told me what happened. You've just warned me about what she could do to us." Samantha could feel the lump growing in her throat and the back of her mouth began to ache, but she was determined not to cry again. "You were right."  
  
She felt her hands begin to shake so she placed her mug on the kitchen table. When she turned to face her mother again, Sam was surprised to find her standing only inches away.  
  
Even though time had changed many things about her mother, her eyes were exactly the same--warm, brown pools that seemed to reflect her emotions and yours at the same time. And as Samantha looked deep into her mother's eyes, she felt as though they had reached an understanding.  
  
"Sam, this isn't fair," her mother began, taking one of her hands. "It isn't fair that you have to do this, and I hate having to ask you these questions that cause you so much pain, but--"  
  
"I know." Samantha's mouth curved in an understanding smile. "Just, could we not do it in here?" She glanced around the kitchen. "Could we go to the living room instead? It's always been my favorite room in the manor because that's--" Sam stopped herself before she revealed too much. "Well."  
  
"Sure." Piper turned to retrieve her tea from where she had left it on the kitchen counter. When she reached for the mug, Paige's hand caught hers.  
  
"Piper do you want to be alone...?" Paige glanced at Sam.  
  
"Maybe later," Piper said thoughtfully. "But right now I think it would be best for us to surround her with as many familiar faces as possible."  
  
Paige's mouth softened and she smiled, nodding her head slightly.  
  
"Uh, honey," Leo said gently, placing a hand on her back. "I, uh, have to go." He glanced upward.  
  
"Now?" Piper asked. "But Sam--"  
  
"I know. But it's important--someone's in trouble."  
  
"You're leaving?" Leo turned at the sound of Samantha's voice. Her eyes seemed very large and round, and she looked at him as though she feared she might never see him again. "Yes, but I'll be back as soon as I can," Leo assured her, approaching her slowly. "I promise." A little awkwardly he pulled her close to him and hugged her, and after a few seconds Sam returned his embrace.  
  
"Be back soon," Piper said tugging on his sweater as Leo leaned in to kiss her.  
  
"I will." Casting one final glance at Samantha, his mouth curving into a shy smile, he orbed out.  
  
Samantha could feel her insides becoming shaky again and her hands beginning to tremble. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, telling herself to calm down, that she hadn't lost her father again.  
  
"Don't worry." Her mother's voice interrupted her thoughts. "He'll come back."  
  
For some reason, just her mother's assurance seemed to ease her fears. She'd always been able to do that. If her mother told her everything would be okay, she would believe it and everything would be. Sam smiled slowly. "I know. He always does."  
  
Piper raised an eyebrow questioningly. Something about Samantha's expression hinted that her statement might mean more than it seemed. "Sam, do you know something I don't know?"  
  
"There are a lot of things I know that you don't, Mom." Her eyes twinkled rather mischievously as Sam turned to walk from the kitchen. 


	7. Chapter 7

As Samantha settled into a chair facing her mother and her aunt, a cozy, familiar feeling swelled inside of her. She snuggled back into the chair, pressing her hands against the warm coffee mug, and allowed her memories to overtake her. Christmas mornings filled with happiness and laughter, her parents embracing each other, embracing her. Sundays spent painting with her aunt or making breakfast with her mother.  
  
She touched a place on the arm of the chair where she would spill hot chocolate when she was five while her mother held her on her lap and read to her while they waited for her father to come home from one of his assignments. And then years later when she was fourteen, her father would hold her on his lap as she cried about losing her best friend.  
  
"Sam." She could see her mother swallow with hesitation. "What do you remember about the time that Phoebe...turned?"  
  
"Not a lot." Samantha drummed her fingers against her mug. "I mean, not only was I young, but it happened around the time that..."  
  
"The time that what?" Paige prompted her.  
  
Samantha's eyebrows drew together and her mouth pressed into a thin line as she stared at Paige, reluctant to continue. "I'm not sure if I should tell you. I mean, I don't know what could happen--"  
  
"I think that if we are going to stop what happened to you from happening, and we're going to," Piper said firmly, "you're going to have to reveal some of what hasn't happened yet."  
  
Samantha nodded, a corner of her mouth drawing back before she continued hesitantly. "It was around the time that Max died."  
  
"Max?" Paige asked.  
  
"Your...husband."  
  
Paige's mouth opened slowly. "Oh."  
  
Samantha watched as her aunt appeared to shrink a little, her body seeming to fold into itself. "He had taken care of me since I was a baby and everyone...was very sad when he passed away. Everything that happened after kind of blends together in my memory."  
  
Piper glanced over at Paige in concern. "You okay?"  
  
Paige's gaze met her sister's a little unsteadily. "Yeah, I'm fine." Piper could tell from her tone of voice and the way she moved uncomfortably on the couch that Paige was far from fine, but she chose not to press her. "Do you remember Cole being around back then?"  
  
Sam narrowed her eyes as she tried to remember. "Maybe. I think he was there the day that Dad left."  
  
"Left?" Piper sat up a little straighter, her interest piqued. "What do you mean 'left'?"  
  
Samantha held up a hand in mock surrender. "Look, all I really remember about that time are feelings mostly and big events. I remember everyone was sad after Max left and then everyone started fighting. You and Dad were fighting with each other and with her--" Sam still couldn't bring herself to say Phoebe's name. "Then one day Dad left. And the next day so did she. After a few weeks, Dad came back--it was like he had just been on assignment, but something seemed different about how he left and why he returned. But she never did come back."  
  
Piper sighed and took a long drink of her tea. Samantha could tell that both her mother and her aunt were disappointed. "I'm sorry I don't remember."  
  
"Honey, don't be sorry," Piper told her. "It's not your fault."  
  
"Still, I wish I could remember more."  
  
"Do you remember ever seeing Phoebe after the day she left?" Piper asked.  
  
"No. Not until she..." Samantha looked down into her tea. "Not until the attack."  
  
"So she didn't try to hurt us until then?"  
  
Samantha shook her head and Piper's expression became puzzled.  
  
"Why--if Phoebe became evil the day she left--did it take her so long to attack us?" Piper gestured at Sam. "If you were six when Phoebe left, it must have been ten years that she left us alone."  
  
"I think the attack had something to do with the Axis," Samantha said.  
  
Paige sat forward on the couch again, trying to push aside the confusion she felt after hearing Sam's news that her husband, whoever he might be, could be dead in six years. "The what?"  
  
"The Axis. It's something very powerful that the Elders entrusted you and Mom to protect. It makes sense that they might be after it because they'd never bothered to fight through the protection spell on the house before then."  
  
"Protection spell?" Paige began to smile. "So I finally finished it?"  
  
Samantha grinned at her in response.  
  
"Oh." Paige's face fell. "But if Phoebe and Cole fought through it, it must not be very strong."  
  
"So why would Phoebe and Cole want the Axis?" Piper wondered.  
  
"I'm not sure. I was never certain of what it did, but I think it opened some kind of a portal."  
  
The three sat in silence for a few moments. As Piper and Paige absorbed and processed what they had heard, Samantha was remembering her childhood, the memories of her family surrounding her like ghosts.  
  
"Okay," Paige interjected in a cheerful voice. "So the question still is, what are we going to do? We're not going to vanquish Phoebe. We can't vanquish Cole--"  
  
"Why not?" Samantha leaned forward in curiosity. "If he's a demon, there's got to be a vanquish."  
  
"It's a little more complicated than that," Piper admitted. "Cole--he really isn't a demon, I guess. We vanquished him but somehow, because of his soul, we think, he managed to survive--"  
  
"Oh, this demon!" Sam's face brightened with recognition. "You've been trying to figure out a way to vanquish him for years."  
  
"Why have we bothered?" Paige leaned back into the couch, crossing her arms dejectedly. "The guy's invincible."  
  
"No, he's not."  
  
Piper and Paige grew very still as their gazes met Samantha's.  
  
"I can vanquish him. Or at least I can in the future with Paige's help."  
  
"How?" Paige asked incredulously. "We hit him with some of our strongest potions and it didn't even make him blink."  
  
Samantha sunk back into the chair a little. Finally she knew something that her mother and her aunt might find useful, but again her knowledge was incomplete. "I don't really know exactly."  
  
Piper's forehead creased in concern. "Did we not tell you anything about magic?"  
  
"Not a lot," Sam admitted. "I mean, I always knew I was a witch and a whitelighter and that I had powers, but mostly you and Dad dealt with the demons. I was only brought into things if I was really needed." Her expression darkened and her voice lowered. "I think you wanted to protect me..."  
  
Piper heard the end of her sentence even though it remained unspoken: "That's why I couldn't protect you."  
  
"But anyway," Before she became too emotional, Samantha tried to continue. "The key to vanquishing the demon is his soul."  
  
"What about his soul?" Paige asked.  
  
"Well, because of his soul he's been able to escape oblivion, like you said. You can't vanquish a soul. Now he's become sort of a soul with powers, which makes him unvanquishable. So to vanquish him--"  
  
"You have to remove his soul," Paige finished in realization.  
  
"What about after that? How do you get rid of his powers?" Piper asked.  
  
"I think Paige prepared something that was a combination of a power- stripping potion and a standard vanquishing potion."  
  
"That kind of makes sense," Paige admitted. "When I used the power- stripping potion on him before, his powers just became a separate entity-- so if we could vanquish them too, that might just get rid of them."  
  
Piper remained hesitant to assume that they had all the pieces to vanquish Cole. "But what about his human form?"  
  
Samantha's expression revealed her uncertainty. "I don't know. You weren't sure if he would have a human form or not once he didn't have a soul anymore. I think the plan was for you to just blow up whatever was left after the potion."  
  
"But then, wouldn't I be killing a human being?" Piper questioned.  
  
Samantha raised her shoulders in a shrug and Paige placed a hand on her arm. "We might have just been desperate enough."  
  
Piper nodded sullenly, but the idea unsettled her.  
  
"Well, now that we have a plan, or at least kind of know what we're doing, I'm going to go get started on that potion." Giving Piper's arm a squeeze, Paige rose from the couch and headed into the kitchen, leaving Piper and Samantha alone.  
  
As soon as Paige left, Piper began to feel nervous, as if she were auditioning for part in a play or a solo in the choir. She smoothed her shirt over her stomach and patted it thoughtfully. She had a thousand questions that she could ask her daughter, but really only a few that mattered. But could she really ask those things of her?  
  
When she had gathered enough courage, Piper looked up to find Samantha smiling at her. "What?" she asked.  
  
Samantha moved in her chair, running a hand through her hair, acting as though she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have. "Oh, I was just...remembering things."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Like how when I was young, about eight, I had trouble sleeping by myself because I had seen a play at school about Hansel and Gretel. The witch that was going to eat them scared me. So for about a year I would wander into your bedroom at night, and you and Dad would always let me sleep with you. You said that we made a sandwich--I was the peanut butter and jelly and you were the bread. And you or Dad would hold me until I went to sleep. I always felt so safe then."  
  
As Piper watched the sadness mixed with contentment flicker in Samantha's eyes, she felt her resolve weaken. How could she ask these things of her, when she had seen... But she needed to know.  
  
"Sam, do you mind if I ask you a question?"  
  
Samantha shook her head and shrugged her indifference.  
  
"It's about the attack," Piper warned her. She saw Samantha's body grow tense, but she nodded for Piper to continue. "Are you sure that Leo...was dead?"  
  
"Yes." Samantha's response was so quiet that Piper wasn't quite sure she had even spoke at all.  
  
"But how...?" Piper's voice broke a little as the thought of losing her husband caused her emotions to rise up in her throat. "Phoebe said she saw herself throw an athame at him. How could that kill him?"  
  
Piper could hear as Sam audibly drew a shaky breath. "They must have dipped the dagger in darklighter poison, and enchanted it somehow so that it would kill quicker because by the time they let me out of whatever they trapped me in...he was gone. I couldn't heal him."  
  
"How long were you trapped?" Piper asked gently.  
  
"I don't know." Her eyes had grown glassy and were fixedly staring over Piper's shoulder. She looked as though she was trying very hard to disconnect herself from the experiences of which she was speaking. "I was too upset to really keep track of time. They were arguing about something. I think the demon wanted to try to kill me, but she--the woman--didn't think they should. She was mad about what happened. When she let me out, the demon was gone and she..." Samantha laughed a little bitterly, tears gathering in her eyes. "She apologized to me for what she had done. And then she left."  
  
Piper felt something in her chest tighten, her breathing become a little more labored. "Oh, Samantha, I am so sorry." The words came out before Piper realized she was saying them. "This is all my fault."  
  
"What is?" Samantha crossed the short distance to the couch, sitting next to her mother. "What's your fault?"  
  
"Everything. All of the pain you've experienced. It's all my fault. I knew-- I knew what kind of life you would have because of who you are--because of who I am. But I was selfish and I'm bringing you into this nightmare of an existence anyway." Turning to her daughter, Piper reached out a hand to touch her cheek. "I'm so sorry."  
  
"No." Samantha shook her head and took her mother's outstretched hand. "No. Don't be sorry. You gave me such an amazing gift: you gave me you. Because you're my mother, I have you. And you gave me Dad and Paige. And I have so many other people who love me and care about me because of who you are." Sam pressed her mother's hand tightly, trying to make the weight of her words more real. "Sure, I've experienced loss, but I've also been so happy. And my happiness outweighs my sadness by so much more."  
  
After gazing steadily at her mother for a few moments, Samantha snuggled close to Piper, linking her arm through hers and resting her head on her shoulder. Too afraid that her heart might burst from all of her emotion, Piper's mouth opened and closed but no words came out. And as they sat without speaking and listened to each other breathe, the heat of their bodies was exchanged through silent, imperceptible transactions. 


	8. Chapter 8

Phoebe lay curled up on her bed, holding her knees against her chest, her face pressed into the space between her pillows. Her body felt heavy--not so much numb exactly, but as if moving her arm would require more energy than she could possibly muster.  
  
Knowing the future was the strangest thing. Because of her powers, she had seen the future dozens of times. At first her premonitions fell as heavy as lead on her shoulders--knowing that someone was going to die made you responsible for her fate. Accepting the fact that she couldn't save all of the innocents she saw in her visions was one of the hardest things she ever had to do.  
  
But eventually the arrogance set in. She became accustomed to having the power to keep her premonitions from happening; the fear that had gripped each time she witnessed a death in her mind lessened--until her premonitions revealed her fate. Then she was reminded of how much power she wielded over other people's lives.  
  
Yet why did she feel so powerless? Why, even though she had changed someone's future countless numbers of times, did she feel as though hers remained set in stone?  
  
Perhaps because her premonition wasn't really a premonition. Perhaps it was only a reminder or a guarantee of who or what she would eventually become.  
  
All of a sudden she felt her mattress give under someone's weight and she raised her head from her pillows, pushing the hair out of her eyes.  
  
"Leo." He sat at the end of her bed, his hands resting in his lap. Phoebe felt a pang of nausea as the memory of him falling to the floor, the athame she had thrown sunk deep into his chest, replayed in her mind. "I, uh, didn't hear you come in."  
  
A little sheepishly, Leo glanced down at his hands, twisting his wedding band on his finger. "Well, I orbed. Normally, you know I wouldn't and I'll leave if you want me to, but I sensed how upset you are and I thought you might want to talk."  
  
Sitting up, Phoebe leaned back against her pillows and pulled the blanket under which she had been huddling over her arms. "There's really not that much to talk about, Leo." She swallowed hard, afraid of what she was beginning to think was the truth. "I'm evil. It's my destiny."  
  
"Phoebe, it's not your destiny." Leo moved closer to her on the bed. "And you're not evil. We all have good and evil inside of us and we choose to be one or the other."  
  
"Well, then why do I always seem to choose to be evil if it's not my destiny? I turned evil in my past life. In my present one, I've married the Source of All Evil and become Queen of the Underworld. And according to my premonition, I'm going to do it again."  
  
Tears stung her eyes and she pressed her face into her hands, hoping that maybe if she could shut Leo out the possibility would disappear. But images from her premonition kept resurfacing in her thoughts, haunting her. She felt the pressure of Leo's hand on her shoulder and lowered her hands enough to look into his eyes.  
  
"That premonition could be a good thing, not a curse. Because you received it, that means you still have the chance to keep that future from happening."  
  
The warmth of his eyes and the earnestness of his voice made Phoebe almost feel lulled into accepting the hope he presented. She desperately wanted to believe him; she desperately wanted to keep lying to herself like she had been doing ever since she had helped her sisters vanquish Cole. But she could not keep ignoring the truth.  
  
"What if this isn't a premonition I can keep from happening, Leo? What if it's only supposed to prepare me for what's to come?"  
  
Leo's mouth softened and Phoebe could feel his pity for her emanating from his body. As he drew breath to speak, Phoebe held up a hand to silence him. "I really don't feel like talking anymore, Leo."  
  
She could see the concern in his eyes as he nodded sadly. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked quietly.  
  
"No." Phoebe drew the blanket more closely around her shoulders. "If you could just sit with me for a little while..." She hesitated, certain that she had no right to ask that of him. "It would mean a lot to me."  
  
With a whisper of a smile on his lips, Leo's gaze flickered from hers to the ground and he clasped his hands between his knees, leaning forward with his elbows braced on his thighs.  
  
Phoebe stared closely at his hands as he laced his fingers together, pressed them palm against palm, played with his wedding ring. His hands were those that had held her, comforted her, healed her. How could she kill this man who had protected her and saved her life, who loved her sister and whom her sister loved, whom she loved?  
  
"Leo?" His gaze met hers. "I know we don't say this enough--I don't say this enough, but thank you. For everything that you do."  
  
His face colored a little and the corner of his mouth turned up in a half- smile. "I'm just doing my job, Phoebe--"  
  
"No, it's more than that. You're a good husband to Piper and you're so good to Paige...and to me."  
  
"Well, you're my family. Families take care of each other."  
  
Phoebe felt her insides grow shaky and her limbs begin to tremble. Her family did take care of her and support her and comfort her. But when was the last time she had taken care of her family?  
  
Suddenly, Leo seemed concerned and quickly stood up. "Uh oh. Piper's coming. I'd better go. She'd be upset if she thought you had talked to me before talking to her."  
  
"Okay." Phoebe looked up at him despondently. "I'm so sorry, Leo."  
  
His forehead wrinkled as he looked back at her, somewhat confused, somewhat understanding, before he disappeared in a swirl of blue orbs.  
  
After a quiet knock sounded, the door to her bedroom opened slowly and Piper's face appeared in the crack. "Phoebe, can I come in?"  
  
Phoebe nodded and the door swung open wider as Piper entered the room carrying a coffee mug with steam rising over its rim.  
  
"Paige and Sam and I were having some tea and I thought you might want some."  
  
"Thank you." Accepting the mug, Phoebe held it between her hands and peeked up almost shyly at her sister.  
  
"Can I get you anything else?" Piper offered, her arms spreading.  
  
Phoebe shook her head. "No, thank you. This is fine."  
  
Piper clasped her hands over her stomach and stood awkwardly in silence. She didn't want to disrespect her sister's wish to think about things on her own, and Phoebe knew that Piper was giving her a chance to say something about what had happened before. But she couldn't. She was too ashamed.  
  
After a few moments Piper cleared her throat. "Sam told us some more of what she knew about Cole, and we think we might have a way to vanquish him. Paige is working on a potion now."  
  
For a second Phoebe stopped breathing and she heard her heartbeat pounding in her head. "Really? How?"  
  
"I-- I'm not sure, honestly. We haven't exactly worked out all of the details yet. Sam still hasn't explained a few things."  
  
Vanquish Cole. They were going to vanquish Cole. Trying to push aside the feelings that overwhelmed her and confused her, Phoebe glanced up at Piper. "Samantha's really beautiful, Piper."  
  
Piper smiled slightly, her eyes softening. "She is, isn't she?" Phoebe grinned back at her. "She looks so much like me and...mom. I still can't believe that--" Piper placed her hands on the sides of her belly. "Well, it just doesn't seem possible that she's here and that she's my daughter."  
  
"I can tell how much she loves you and Leo. You guys are going to be great parents, I know it." Phoebe held out a hand to her sister and when Piper placed a hand in hers, the warm flesh of their palms touching, Phoebe squeezed it gratefully.  
  
"Thank you," Piper said.  
  
Silence filled the room again as fear held back the words that rested on their tongues. Piper wished she could say something to her sister to ease her pain, but she couldn't find the right words. She kept picturing Phoebe's description of Leo crumpling to the floor, the knife imbedded in his chest, which made her hesitant to offer any comfort. Phoebe wanted to tell her sister again how sorry she was, and that she would never put her family in danger like that, but she would be lying. She knew the possibility lay inside her, just as it always had.  
  
Finally, Piper spoke. "Well, if you don't need anything else, I should get back downstairs to help Paige."  
  
"Okay." Phoebe lifted her mug slightly. "Thanks for the tea."  
  
Piper nodded and turned to leave, but when she reached the door she paused, looking back over her shoulder at Phoebe. "You know, we are going to fix this."  
  
Phoebe could hear the determination in Piper's voice and she felt her love for her sister swell up inside of her. She watched the crack in the doorway grow smaller and smaller and Piper's face become more distant as her bedroom door swung shut, closing with a resounding click. 


	9. Chapter 9

"Does this look right?" Samantha stepped back from the stove so that Paige could check the potion she was mixing, and as Paige leaned across the counter, Sam found herself staring down at the back of her aunt's head, the smell of her shampoo rising to her nose. Paige's hair fell forward across her face, and without thinking Samantha reached out and pressed the soft strands between her thumb and forefinger, tucking them behind her aunt's ear. Surprised, Paige straightened, looking at Samantha in with a puzzled expression.  
  
"I'm sorry," Samantha stammered. "I don't know why I did that."  
  
After a few moments, Paige's face softened. "It's okay. You just startled me." She smiled faintly and glanced at the potion. "And that looks fine. Now add the mandrake root."  
  
As she reached for the herb, Samantha felt her face turning red and she closed her eyes against the embarrassment. She didn't know what had come over her to make her touch her aunt's hair. The gesture was a common one between her and Paige in the future, but how could the Paige of the present know that? Breaking a piece of mandrake root in half, she tossed it in the pot and looked timidly over at her aunt. "I like your hair. The red looks nice."  
  
"Oh, thanks." Paige ran a hand through her hair self-consciously, feeling a little awkward. She wasn't quite sure of how to make conversation with her niece now that certain things had been revealed. "Have you not seen it red before?"  
  
"Just pictures." Awkwardness filled the silence that followed, her words reverberating in her head. She felt so ridiculous not being able to speak to her aunt. As Sam carefully stirred the potion, watching as it thickened, she began remembering the weekdays and summers spent with her aunt learning about spells and potions while her parents were both working. Even though she respected her parents' wishes to keep her away from demons and warlocks, Paige had decided when Samantha was ten that she needed to be seriously trained in witchcraft and thought her mother was being unrealistic by not teaching her more. She had come to really know her aunt as they had studied herbs and potion recipes, chatting about magic and memories. From those conversations, Samantha had come to trust that she could ask her aunt anything and receive an honest answer.  
  
"Paige." Her aunt glanced up from the potion. "Can I ask you a question?"  
  
Paige's eyes widened slightly. "Sure. But I doubt there's much I know that you don't."  
  
Samantha shifted her weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably before speaking. "My parents, do they-- Are they happy about me? Being born, that is."  
  
Her aunt's face softened in concern and she placed an arm around Samantha in a reassuring half-hug. "Honey, of course they are. Why would you think they weren't?"  
  
Leaning away somewhat from Paige, Sam shrugged. "I don't know. It's just that Mom seemed kind of upset that..."  
  
When she left her sentence unfinished, Paige's face tilted closer to hers. "That what?"  
  
"It's nothing. Forget it." Stepping out from under her aunt's arm, Sam moved closer to the stove and stared intently into the pot. Even though her doubts still whispered persistently in her mind, she feared her aunt's answer too much to vocalize them. She felt Paige's hand on her shoulder but her eyes remained fixed on the potion.  
  
"Samantha, do you know that before you came along, your mom didn't think she could get pregnant?"  
  
Samantha's face turned toward her aunt's. "Really?" Her mother never talked much about her birth or the time around when she was born. Sam had always assumed she didn't because what had happened soon after had been so painful, so she had been hesitant to ask her mother questions, concerned that she might upset her.  
  
"Yeah." Paige's arm slid around her shoulders again and she did not shrug off her embrace. "Even though she never would have admitted it to Leo, I think Piper had pretty much given up hope that she would ever have a baby. But then they found out about you." Smiling, Paige brushed the hair back from Samantha's face. "So you're kind of a miracle to them."  
  
Paige studied the profile of her niece's down-turned face, noticing the corner of her mouth curving in the beginning of a smile. "And because you're so special to her, I think your mom is just worried that she won't be as good of a mother as she wants to be."  
  
"But," Paige gave Sam's shoulder a squeeze before walking across the kitchen to retrieve an herb from the cupboard. "I don't think that she has anything to worry about because...here you are." Facing Samantha again, Paige gestured to her. "You wouldn't be here and you wouldn't be as great as you are if Piper wasn't a great mom."  
  
Paige could see Sam's eyes become a little glassy and heard her swallow. "She is a great mom." Samantha's mouth spread slowly in a smile. "And you have always been a great friend. Thank you."  
  
In spite of herself, Paige felt a tightening in her chest, and the tiny residual of doubt she had about Samantha dissolved away. Taking a pinch of the herb she had retrieved from the cupboard, Paige extended her hand over the potion pot. "You might want to step back a little." When Sam had taken a few steps backward, she dropped the herb into the potion, which caused a small explosion, a white mushroom cloud of smoke rising from the pot. "Okay, looks like it's ready. All it has to do now is cool." Reaching across the stove, Paige turned off the burner.  
  
Friend. She was a good friend. Paige knew that Samantha's statement was a compliment and she even took it as such, but part of her wondered if she could ever be more than just a friend to anyone in her new family. Could she ever become a sister to Piper and Phoebe like Prue had been? She didn't want to replace Prue--she knew that she couldn't--but sometimes she felt uncertain of whether she, and Piper and Phoebe, could ever see past the fact that their relationship had built out of necessity rather than choice. If they had not needed her to reconstitute the Power of Three, she would probably still be ignorant of her past and her family.  
  
"Uh, I hate to pry," Samantha's voice drew Paige from her thoughts. "But are you okay? You look upset about something."  
  
Paige shrugged and began putting herbs back into containers. "I'm fine. I was just thinking."  
  
Samantha's mouth curved into a knowing smirk and Paige's breath caught in her throat, astonished at how much Sam looked like Piper. "You may not know me very well yet, Paige, so I would understand if you didn't want to tell me, but I know you. And you are not fine. What's wrong?"  
  
She hesitated as she reached for the mandrake root. "I was just thinking that I'll probably never be able to get close to Piper and Phoebe like I want to. That I'll always be the sister they had to live with for protection."  
  
Samantha shook her head in disbelief. "Paige, you're like Mom's best friend."  
  
"I know, but will I ever be more than just a friend to her? I know she'll never think of me as a sister like she thought of Prue, but I don't think I'll ever come close." Glancing up from the powder she was siphoning back into a vial, Paige's eyes met Sam's and the depth of understanding she saw in them surprised her. "And I know I'm probably being unrealistic for wanting that, but they're the first family I've had since my parents died. Sometimes I get fed up with always feeling like an outsider."  
  
As her sentence trailed off Paige began to feel a little awkward about revealing her insecurities about her family to Samantha, who didn't really even have a family anymore. Her problems seemed rather ridiculous in comparison.  
  
"I want to tell you something that you told me once." Samantha exhaled a little shakily. "One day I was sad because my friends all seemed to have these huge families with grandparents and cousins and all I had was you and my mom and dad. And you told me...You said that all of these labels--aunt, mother, friend--didn't matter. What matters is that you have people in your life who love you and who you can trust and depend on. And that those are the people who are your family."  
  
Paige felt like a lake that Samantha was skipping stones on, her words making small ripples but failing to sink in. She recognized and understood the truth in her niece's words--as someone who had been adopted, Paige's definition of family was not based on traditional ideas of blood and biology. Even if it remained unsaid, she knew that her sisters loved her, but she needed more than that. She needed to know that they appreciated her.  
  
Casting a grateful glance at her niece, Paige handed her a potion vial and Samantha carefully transferred some of the liquid into little bottle and corked it. Holding the bottle up to the light, Sam's expression became thoughtful.  
  
"You know, I've always wondered: where do you and Mom find of all these little bottles?"  
  
Paige chuckled. "Actually, we buy them in bulk at a glass factory outlet just outside of town."  
  
"Hmm." Samantha handed the bottle to her aunt. "They're so cute."  
  
Smiling, Paige accepted the vial from her niece then jumped slightly in surprise as she noticed something over Sam's shoulder. At Paige's startled expression, Samantha turned and when she realized her father was standing beside her, she grinned warmly.  
  
"Dad." Sliding her arms around his waist, Sam pressed her face against his sweater. Leo returned his daughter's embrace and cast a bemused but pleased look at Paige who shrugged and smiled in return.  
  
"So what are you girls up to?" Leo asked tilting his side to one side to look down at his daughter.  
  
"Well, Samantha was able to fill us in a little more, and because of what she told us we have just finished a vanquishing potion for Cole." Beaming, Paige displayed the potion bottle between a thumb and forefinger proudly.  
  
"Oh, good. You've finished," Piper commented as she entered the kitchen. At the sight of her husband and daughter hugging, Piper smiled and unconsciously placed a hand on her stomach.  
  
"How's Phoebe?" Paige asked a little sheepishly. She had begun to feel a little guilty about what she had said about Phoebe earlier.  
  
With her smile dissolving, Piper shrugged noncommittally, her eyes downcast.  
  
"Wait. Cole?" Leo asked incredulously. "You figured out how to vanquish Cole?"  
  
Her father's hold loosening, Samantha stepped back from him and nodded solemnly at Leo. "At least, Mom and Paige figured it out--or will figure it out...you know what I mean."  
  
"Is that why Phoebe and Cole attacked...us," Leo hesitated slightly. "Were they afraid that Piper and Paige would vanquish Cole?"  
  
"No, they were after something called the Axis," Paige explained. "Do you know what that is?"  
  
Leo's eyes widened in surprise. "The Axis?" He glanced down at Samantha. "Are you kidding? It's real?"  
  
Samantha nodded. "Mom and Paige were protecting it."  
  
"What is it?" Piper asked again.  
  
Sighing, Leo leaned against the kitchen counter. "No one really knows for certain. Even the Elders have only heard stories about it. What I do know is mostly just legend."  
  
Paige rolled her eyes in exasperation. "So what's the legend?"  
  
"The Axis is something very ancient and very powerful. Supposedly it allowed whoever used it to manipulate time in any way he chose--go back to the past, into the future and who knows what else. But an old mystic became concerned that the Axis would give one person too much power, so it was hidden." Looking back over at Samantha, Leo's brow furrowed questioningly. "Did you use it to come here?"  
  
Sam shook her head. "No, I used a spell in the Book of Shadows. I didn't really know what the Axis was--plus that thing didn't exactly come with an instruction manual."  
  
His interest piqued, Leo leaned closer to his daughter. "Do you know how we got a hold of it in the future? Who found it or where it was found--"  
  
"Uh, honey," Piper interrupted. "Could you exploit Sam for information about the Axis later so we can exploit her for information about Cole now?"  
  
"Sorry." Leo held up his hands in apology. "I got a little carried away."  
  
"It's okay. I just think that we should try to focus on the situation at hand." Clearing her throat, Piper's gaze met Samantha's. "How do we extract Cole's soul?"  
  
"That's your plan?" Leo asked, raising his eyebrows in disbelief. "To remove Cole's soul?"  
  
"Well, yeah," Piper replied. "Sam said that his soul is what's making him indestructible, so if we get rid of it, he's just an ordinary demon that we can vanquish."  
  
Leo shifted uncomfortably, his apprehension evident in his expression. "Removing someone's soul is pretty serious, Piper. Are you sure that you know what you're doing?"  
  
"Leo, Cole is dangerous. He has tried to kill you and Paige and our baby and we can't even touch the bastard." Even though Piper's face remained expressionless, the undercurrent of anger was apparent in her voice. "So unless you have a better idea, I think we should give Samantha's plan a try."  
  
For a few moments, Piper and Leo's eyes locked, a silent battle raging between them. Exhaling audibly, Leo conceded with a curt nod and Piper turned her gaze back to Samantha. "So how do we do this?"  
  
"Well, I was supposed to use my powers to remove his soul, but since I don't have them in this time, I guess you have to do it." Samantha gestured to her mother. Frowning slightly, her eyes lingered on her Piper's stomach. The idea of not being born, of being inside her mother disconcerted her.  
  
Piper's eyes narrowed in doubt. "What do you mean? What are your powers?"  
  
Samantha looked back and forth between her parents. "You don't know what my powers are? Haven't I been using them? Mom always told me that she had to give birth to me at home because you were afraid I'd use my powers--"  
  
"I gave birth to you at home?" Piper said, her displeasure at this revelation unmistakable. "Well, that's just great." Slumping on the counter, Piper propped her head on her hand.  
  
"Piper, concentrate." Paige elbowed her sister gently until Piper stood up again. "We have time to talk about that later."  
  
"Yes, you have been using your powers." Leo began.  
  
"But you've done a bunch of different things that we haven't been able to attribute to one power," Paige explained. "Or even two."  
  
"Oh." Samantha hesitated, pushing her hair back from her face. Should she tell them? She was so afraid that she would make a mistake and tell them something she shouldn't, placing them in even greater danger than that from which she had come to save them. Sighing, she realized that her powers were something that would not change no matter how much she told her parents. Besides, she had told Paige about Max--her powers seemed rather insignificant in comparison. "My powers, well, power really is that I can manipulate other people's powers--people who are near me at least. At first, I could only affect good magic, but as I got older I could use demons' powers as well."  
  
"What do you mean by manipulate?" Paige asked.  
  
"Well, say that a demon tried to throw a fireball at me. I could alter his powers so that instead of throwing fire at others he sets himself on fire and vanquishes himself."  
  
"So you can activate other people's powers?" Leo asked.  
  
"Sometimes, but mostly no. The person still triggers her power, I just change the result." Samantha looked back to her mother, who still appeared skeptical.  
  
Piper thought back to all of the little "tricks" the baby had done during her pregnancy, trying to account for each of the incidents with Samantha's explanation. "So how were you going to use your powers to remove Cole's soul?"  
  
"By manipulating Paige's. She can orb objects to herself and even direct them places, but she can't separate something from a whole nor can she orb things that are not corporeal."  
  
"Hey, that's not true. I orbed Piper's soul out of the dragon blade that one time," Paige protested.  
  
"Yeah, but you haven't been able to do something like that since," Piper commented. "I think you were only able to do that because of the power boost you received in limbo."  
  
"I still couldn't do it fifteen years in the future?" Paige asked her niece.  
  
"I guess not," Samantha shrugged. "Else you wouldn't have needed me." Paige scrunched up her face in consideration, and Samantha turned away as she felt her ears burn red. Her aunt didn't need to know that when her husband had died, her powers had regressed somewhat and once the Power of Three had been broken Paige's powers and her mother's had stopped developing.  
  
"So." At the sound of her mother's voice, she glanced up. "Are you sure that you, or your powers can do that? Separate a soul from a person?"  
  
Nodding, Samantha pressed her arms close to her body, hugging herself. "I got to practice once on this vampire and everything worked fine."  
  
"A vampire with a soul?" Paige scoffed. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of."  
  
"So now that you know how to vanquish him, how are you going to get Cole here so that you can?" Leo asked.  
  
"We'll summon him, we'll cage him and then we'll vanquish his sorry ass." Piper's steady gaze moved from Leo to Samantha. "Are you ready for this?"  
  
After a few moments, Sam nodded slightly, hesitantly.  
  
"I'll go get Phoebe." With a fleeting look at her niece that silently conveyed her concern, Paige left the kitchen, the sound of her shoes clacking against the tile overwhelming the quiet of the room.  
  
Piper's gaze softened and Leo placed an arm around his daughter's shoulders. "Are you sure that you're ready for this?"  
  
"You know, you don't have to be there when we do this if you don't want to-- "  
  
"No," Samantha interrupted her mother. "You'll need me there in case you have trouble controlling my powers."  
  
"Okay," Piper said with a small sigh of consent and a glance at her husband.  
  
As her parents exchanged concerned looks, Samantha watched them closely. She had been watching them closely all evening, and she had noticed something in the way that they interacted with each other that seemed different. Seeing her mother allowing her father to embrace her and offer her support and comfort had caused her to realize that she had not seen her parents show affection to one another beyond the occasional perfunctory hug in years. There was a tenderness, a gentleness in the looks that they gave each other--a genuine feel of affection between them.  
  
But she had also seen hints of the relationship to which she was accustomed: the clipped sentences, the business-like demeanors and hard stares. Those glimpses frightened her; they made her feel six years old again, sitting quietly in the living room as she tried her hardest to concentrate on the television and not to hear the faint sounds of her parents arguing in the background.  
  
Drawing the flesh of her lip between her teeth, Samantha breathed deeply. "I have something that I want to tell you. Both of you." Her eyes flickered between her parents uncertainly.  
  
"Okay," Piper said after Sam remained silent for several moments. "What?"  
  
"It's some advice actually," Samantha replied with a shy smile. Staring uncomfortably at the counter, she cleared her throat and forced herself to meet her mother's eyes. "Don't blame each other when things go wrong," she said slowly.  
  
Her mother turned her head to the side, partly in surprise partly in confusion, her eyes narrowing.  
  
"Sometimes bad things happen that aren't anyone's fault," Sam continued, looking to her father who returned her gaze steadily. "You both need to know that."  
  
The corner of her mouth drawing back in a melancholy half-smile, Samantha stepped out from under Leo's arm. Walking around the kitchen counter, she approached her mother. Embracing her, Sam felt her mother's stomach pressing against hers, which for some reason gave her hope. She pressed her face into Piper's hair, deeply breathing in its smell.  
  
Stepping back from their embrace, Samantha squeezed her mother's hand warmly. "I love you both very much." With a final glance at her father, she turned and walked silently from the kitchen. 


	10. Chapter 10

With a click, Paige put a crystal on the floor in the sunroom, leaving a gap where the fifth crystal would be placed to complete the circle and create a force field to entrap Cole. Rising from her knees, Paige handed the last crystal to Leo, who stood off to the side, his forehead wrinkled in concern. "Here you go, Leo. As soon as Cole corporealizes, just slam it into place."  
  
Turning the crystal over in his hand, Leo ran a finger over the smooth surface of one of its sides. The little stone didn't seem capable of protecting the people he loved the most. "Are you sure the cage will hold Cole? We don't know the extent of his powers."  
  
"You're right. We don't," Paige admitted with a shrug. "But I charged the crystals so that they will make the strongest force field possible and we can only hope that it at least slows down Cole enough for us to remove his soul."  
  
Nodding, Leo lowered his eyes to the crystal again, but his fears obviously had not been assuaged.  
  
"Besides, Phoebe and I will stick close to Piper and hopefully the baby's shield will protect us too." Paige tried to give Leo her most reassuring smile before walking over to Piper and Samantha, who were seated next to each other on a loveseat.  
  
Sam was coaching her mother about using her power. "Okay, this is probably going to be doubly hard for you and take a lot of concentration because you'll need to be tapping into my power as well as Paige's." From the coffee table Samantha picked up a quartz crystal that she had prepared to capture and contain Cole's soul and held it up to her mother. "Paige will be holding the crystal and calling for the demon's soul. Normally when Paige calls for something it orbs from one place to another, but that won't work and that's not what we want in this case." Piper nodded solemnly, her expression intent. "When Paige is calling for it, you'll need to be concentrating on how you want her power to work instead. Try thinking of pouring water between two glasses--we want what is inside of something to end up inside of something else."  
  
"Okay." Piper exhaled loudly, rolling her shoulders and stretching her neck from side to side in effort to clear her thoughts and concentrate. "But how do I now if I can tap into your powers at will? I've never done that before."  
  
"Hmmm..." Glancing around the room, Samantha looked for something on which her mother could practice and spotted a glass of water and a potted plant. "Here."  
  
Pacing across the room, Samantha picked up a dying ivy from the iron table at which Phoebe sat attempting to write a spell that would summon Cole. While being so close to the woman she had seen help murder her family still unnerved her, Sam recognized that she was not the same person. She had seen how fragile this woman had become in the short time she had been there.  
  
Shyly, she touched Phoebe's arm to pull her attention away from the spell. Jumping slightly at her niece's touch, Phoebe turned to Sam. "Do you mind if I use the rest of your water?" Samantha inclined her head toward the half-empty glass of water near Phoebe's hand.  
  
"No, go right ahead." Lifting the glass, Phoebe handed it to Samantha, who made a conscious effort not to flinch when Phoebe's hand brushed hers.  
  
"Thank you." Managing to hold her aunt's gaze for a few seconds before moving away from the table, Samantha returned to her mother and her aunt, who had taken Samantha's place next to Piper on the loveseat. "Now, let's practice, Mom."  
  
A small smile crept to Piper's lips at the word, "mom." She could not get over how good she felt when Sam called her that.  
  
Kneeling at the coffee table facing Piper and Paige, Samantha pushed the ivy and the water glass to the farthest edges of the table. "Take Paige's hand." Obediently, Piper and Paige joined hands. "Now concentrate and move the water from the glass into the soil around the plant."  
  
Closing her eyes, Piper breathed deeply. Paige watched Piper intently until she noticed her sister nod slowly, then called, "Water."  
  
After a few moments, the water disappeared in a swirl of orbs and the ivy glowed. Opening her eyes, Piper looked from Samantha to Paige to the plant. "Did it work?"  
  
Pressing a finger into the soil around the ivy, Sam lifted her hand to reveal the damp earth clinging to the tip of her finger. "It worked."  
  
"Okay then," Piper said, smiling proudly at her accomplishment. "How's that spell coming, Pheebs?"  
  
"Almost ready." Phoebe held up two fingers over her shoulder at Piper. "Just give me a few more minutes."  
  
Easing back into the loveseat with a sigh, Piper looked past Phoebe to where Leo was standing, leaning against the doorway, turning over the crystal Paige had given him in his hand. At the look on his face, Piper placed a hand over her heart.  
  
After Sam had left them in the kitchen, they had been unable to say anything, each of them lost in their own musings about what their daughter's words could mean. Because of their conversation earlier, Piper had a better idea of what Sam was hinting at than Leo did. Samantha had indicated that perhaps Piper and Leo had separated when Sam was young, and at the thought of that possibility, Piper trembled.  
  
Noticing her mother's hand shaking, Samantha followed Piper's gaze over to her father who was looking back at his wife, a slight smile on his face. Seeing the affection evident in his expression, Sam felt her insides melt a little and she told herself that she had done the right thing by telling her parents what she had.  
  
"Paige, what are you doing?" At the sound of her mother's voice, Sam glanced over to see her aunt kiss her mother's belly and rest her head against it, rubbing Piper's stomach gently. "Paige, are you okay?" Piper turned her head to the side to look down at her sister.  
  
Sitting up, Paige met Piper's look with a confused glance. "Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"You sure? Because that was kinda weird. You never touch my stomach like that."  
  
"I know. That was weird." Paige cocked her head to the side in bewilderment. "I was just sitting here and all of the sudden I had the strangest urge to make out with you." Paige shivered as if trying to shake off the feeling.  
  
"Okay..." An amused expression on her face, Piper patted Paige's arm. "I love you too, Paige."  
  
"Okay." Phoebe approached her sisters and Samantha, a piece of paper clutched between her hands. "The spell's ready."  
  
Looking between her sisters and then over at Samantha, Piper straightened and cleared her throat. "Are we ready to do this?"  
  
After a terse nod from everyone, the sisters positioned themselves in front of the incomplete circle of crystals Paige had arranged on the floor. With Piper in the center, Paige and Phoebe huddled close on either side of her. Phoebe handed the spell to Piper who read it and then clasped Paige's hand tightly as white lights began forming in front of them.  
  
When Cole's figure appeared before them, Piper flung out a hand at him, using her exploding power to knock Cole backwards into the crystal circle.  
  
"Leo, now!" At Paige's command, Leo slammed the last crystal into place, trapping Cole in a shimmering blue force field.  
  
"Phoebe," Cole panted as he rose from the floor onto his knees. "What is this?"  
  
"It's what you wanted," Phoebe said and aimed a steely gaze at her ex- husband, but she felt herself tremble inside.  
  
"Okay, Paige," Piper kept her eyes focused on Cole as she nodded for Paige to begin.  
  
Holding out her hand, the quartz crystal resting on her palm, Paige called, "Soul."  
  
After a few seconds, Cole let out a pained yell, his body jerking as if someone were trying to rip out his insides. A hazy, glowing vapor began to form around him, drawing away from his body in a small stream that slowly wafted towards the quartz crystal in Paige's hand.  
  
"Wait!" A voice called as a hand grabbed Paige's, snatching the crystal from her.  
  
With Paige's concentration broken, the white vapor swarmed back toward Cole, reentering his body. Weakened and gasping for air, Cole collapsed to the floor. 


	11. Chapter 11

"What's wrong? Why did you want me to stop?" Piper turned toward Samantha who still had the crystal she had taken from Paige in her hand. She squeezed it so tightly, Piper could see her knuckles turn white.  
  
"I--" Closing her eyes, Sam exhaled loudly before continuing. "I don't know if I want you to go through with this."  
  
"I don't know if I want us to go through with it either," Paige added, moving closer to Sam and putting a reassuring arm around her shoulders.  
  
Sighing, the relief Phoebe felt overwhelmed her. Raising a hand to her face, she was surprised to find it damp with tears--she hadn't even realized that she had been crying.  
  
"But-- Why wouldn't you want us to go through with it, Sam?" Piper gestured to the force field and Cole's sprawled body. "I thought this was the reason you came here."  
  
Sam shook her head in confusion. "I came here to save you and Dad and Paige- -not to kill someone. I want to change to future, but I don't want to do it the wrong way. I know that this might be a means to keeping you from dying, but something just doesn't feel right about it."  
  
"I agree," Paige said quietly, pulling her arms closer to her body. "Doing that to him, even after everything he's done to us, just felt wrong."  
  
"Well, what do you think, Phoebe?" Piper asked, turning toward her.  
  
Phoebe could feel everyone's eyes on her, watching her as she stared at Cole's unmoving form. Her relief that Samantha had stopped her sisters from vanquishing Cole both shocked and disgusted her. For the sake of her family, if nothing else, she should be ready and able to vanquish him--what was holding her back?  
  
"Phoebe?" With her concern evident in her voice, Piper gently touched Phoebe's arm, trying to pull her sister out of the trance into which she seemed to have entered.  
  
"I don't think I can do it, Piper," Phoebe replied quietly, looking up at her sister. "At least, not before I tell him something."  
  
Moving over to the force field, Phoebe picked up one of the crystals, causing the energy shield to dissipate. Kneeling next to Cole, she lifted his head onto her lap and stroked his hair back from his forehead, which was damp with sweat.  
  
After a few moments, Cole's eyes fluttered open. "Phoebe?" He blinked, trying to focus on Phoebe's face, which appeared hazy and ethereal. "Am I dead?"  
  
"No."  
  
Smiling, Cole reached for Phoebe's hand that was resting lightly on his chest, clasping it warmly in his. "You couldn't do it, could you? I knew that you still loved me."  
  
"Yes, I do still love you," Phoebe admitted softly. "And a part of me will probably always love you, but that doesn't change anything, Cole. We can't be together--I need you to know that."  
  
Frowning, Cole released Phoebe's hand and sat up so that he was facing her. "Because you think I'm evil? I'm not--"  
  
"No, not because of that. And not because of anything else I've told you since you came back." Glancing down, Phoebe played self-consciously with the sleeve of her shirt. "It's because I'm afraid of what I might do, what I might become if we were together. Last time, I became Queen of the Underworld--I risked the lives of my sisters, Leo, my niece. I can't do that to my family again, Cole. I won't." Blinking away the tears that had formed in her eyes, Phoebe breathed deeply. She felt as though the great weight that she had been carrying for the past six months had been lifted from her.  
  
Taking her hand, Cole tried to meet her gaze. "But it won't be like that this time. I can be good. I know that I can and you know it too. You've seen it."  
  
Shaking her head, Phoebe smiled sadly. "It's too late for that, Cole. And even if you were good, you wouldn't be doing it because you want to be good or because you realize that it's the right thing to do. You'd only be doing it to be with me. And while I understand the effort you would be making, I couldn't risk being with you--not if I want to keep my family safe."  
  
Sighing, Cole smoothed the back of her hand with his thumb. "Then vanquish me, Phoebe. I don't want to keep living with the burden of these powers. Especially if I can't be with you."  
  
Staring into Cole's eyes, Phoebe could see him pleading with her. After a few moments, she stood silently and moved away from him, replacing the crystal so the force field flared up again behind her.  
  
When she neared Piper, her sister caught her hand. "You okay?" Phoebe nodded and Piper squeezed her hand tightly. "Thank you for saying that."  
  
"So what do we do?" Paige asked. "I don't know if I can--"  
  
"I know," Phoebe interrupted. "I can't vanquish him either. It would be like punishing him for my mistake." She glanced at Samantha. "While Cole may have been the one who threw the energy balls, I put you all in danger when I chose to go with him."  
  
"So are you saying we let him go?" Piper asked skeptically.  
  
"No," Phoebe said firmly. "I couldn't do that in good conscience either. We can't risk him attacking us again, trying to taunt us into vanquishing him."  
  
"So...what do we do?" Paige repeated with a shake of her head.  
  
Phoebe crossed her arms over her stomach determinedly. "Power stripping potion."  
  
Paige frowned doubtfully. "But the last time I tried that, his powers just took on a shadow form and Barbas absorbed them. How do we get rid of his powers without giving them to another demon?"  
  
"We'll say a spell to send the powers directly to the Wasteland while he drinks the potion."  
  
"Phoebe, I don't know." Piper shook her head warily. "Cole was human and powerless once before and he still found a way to become the Source. How do we know he won't go find another way to become a demon again?"  
  
"I was tricked into becoming the Source." The sisters looked over at their prisoner. "That wasn't something I sought out."  
  
"What do you mean 'tricked'?" Paige asked cautiously.  
  
"The Seer--she told me that the only way to stop the Source and to save all of you was to absorb the Hollow." Standing, Cole shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "What she failed to tell me was that once I absorbed the Source's powers they would stay inside me, even after the Hollow was extracted. Once I found out what had happened, the Source all ready had too strong of a hold for me to fight him."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me, Cole?" Phoebe asked moving closer to him. "We might have been able to destroy the Source before he had taken you over completely."  
  
"Because a part of me thought that I could have his powers and still be good," Cole admitted, casting his eyes downward. "I felt helpless as a mortal, so when the opportunity for me to regain powers presented itself, I took it. Power has always been my downfall."  
  
As he spoke, Phoebe began to realize that she too craved power. She always had. Her love of power was what had attracted her to Cole in the first place. Even when she didn't know he was a demon, she could sense the power that lay just beneath the surface and it had intoxicated her. Power had always been her downfall as well--that's why she and Cole were so dangerous for each other.  
  
"All the more reason why this might not be a good idea." Piper waved a hand emphatically. "He'll find a way to get his powers back eventually. Stripping him of them now is only postponing dealing with the problem."  
  
"I can't vanquish him, Piper," Phoebe said slowly, her eyes soft. "I can't punish him for my crime." She held Piper's gaze for a few seconds before walking toward the kitchen.  
  
"I'll just go help her," Paige said before heading after her.  
  
Sighing, Piper turned to Samantha, who looked back at her sheepishly. She felt a hand on her shoulder and glanced over at Leo who had moved to her side. Leaning against him, she slid an arm around his waist. "I do not like this plan. At all."  
  
"I'm sorry," Samantha tried to stammer out an apology, but her words failed her. "I just-- I couldn't--"  
  
"It's okay," Piper assured her, placing a hand on her arm. "I just wish there was a solution we could all agree on that would make sure that he wouldn't try to hurt us again."  
  
"I just wish I knew more so that I could help you, Mom--"  
  
"'Mom'?" Cole interjected. "Did she just call you 'Mom'? Is she your daughter, Piper?"  
  
Piper fixed Cole with a withering look. "Yes, she's my daughter--the one you tried to kill."  
  
With a dismissive wave, Cole scoffed. "I wasn't trying to kill your baby, Piper. I was counting on Sam to--"  
  
"Paige and Leo--two adults--barely survived that darklighter's attack. Do you really think that an unborn child could have survived the poison if that arrow hadn't been deflected?"  
  
Cole opened his mouth slightly as if he were going to answer her, but after a few moments he closed it again and swallowed visibly.  
  
"Apparently we're not going to vanquish you today, Cole. But if I ever see you near my child, I will kill you--demon or not, and I won't take the time to find out which one you happen to be."  
  
Leaving her eyes on Cole for as long as she could, Piper turned and walked over to the love seat, settling down into it. Samantha hovered near her, uncertain of what she should do until Piper patted the cushion next to her and motioned for Sam to sit. Leo sat on the coffee table across from them and her mother gazed warily around him at Cole.  
  
"Mom." Piper turned at Samantha's quiet murmur. "What's going to happen to me once this is all over?"  
  
"Well, I'm not sure." She said, looking to Leo. "Probably we'll write a spell and send you back to your own time."  
  
"Will I remember coming here?" Sam asked.  
  
"I think so. We've always retained memories of our trips to the past and to the future."  
  
Samantha shifted uncomfortably on the love seat. "But--what if I go back and you're all still... What if things are worse instead of better?"  
  
Piper exhaled audibly as she searched for an answer. "I don't know, Sam, I guess you just have to trust that things will work out they way they were intended. Hopefully, that means things will be better."  
  
Nodding slowly, Samantha stared down at her father's hands resting in his lap. Even though she knew that it was impossible, Sam wished that she could stay in this time. The thought of going back to an uncertain future frightened her. Snuggling close to Piper, she fit her body against the curve of her mother's side and rested her head on Piper's shoulder.  
  
Piper pressed her cheek against the top of Samantha's head and breathed deeply, her doubts and fears pressing down on her. She wished somehow she could know everything would be okay. She hated the possibility that she might have to send her daughter to a future in which she was still vulnerable to Cole's attack. Vanquishing Cole seemed the only way to ensure that he could not hurt her, but a part of her agreed with her sisters. Piper barely managed to keep channeling the baby's powers before Samantha had stopped them from removing Cole's soul. Watching someone suffer through that ordeal, even someone she hated troubled her.  
  
"Okay," Paige said as she and Phoebe reentered the room from the kitchen. "Potion's ready."  
  
"And the spell?" Piper asked.  
  
Phoebe held up a piece of paper. "Finished."  
  
"Okay, then let's do this." Reluctantly, Piper rose from the love seat. She disliked losing the feeling of her daughter pressed against her, the warmth of her body mingling with Piper's own warmth.  
  
The sisters moved over to the crystal cage, and, kneeling, Paige removed one of the crystals from the circle, causing the shield to fall away.  
  
"Here," Phoebe said handing Cole the potion. "You drink this while we say a spell and your powers will be gone for good."  
  
Raising an eyebrow almost skeptically, Cole wordlessly accepted the vial and uncorked it. He stared at it pensively for a few moments then glanced up at Phoebe, whose expression confirmed that this was his only option-- they weren't going to vanquish him.  
  
As he put the vial to his lips and tilted back his head to drink the potion, the sisters began reciting the spell. When they finished, Cole grunted in pain and fell to the floor twitching as a black cloud rose from his body. The cloud hovered for a few moments then exploded, its particles quickly dissipating.  
  
"Cole?" Phoebe said tentatively, taking a step towards him. "Cole, are you okay?"  
  
Sighing, Cole managed to sit up and pressed his face into his hands.  
  
"Did it work? Are your powers gone?" Phoebe knelt beside him.  
  
Cole became lost in concentration and after a short while replied, "Yeah, they're gone." Meeting Phoebe's gaze, the corner of his mouth twitched in a smile. "I'm just a mortal again."  
  
Phoebe could hear in the inflection of his voice and see in his eyes that Cole had still not let go of the possibility that they might be together. She looked up at her sisters and Leo who stood nearby. "Guys, could you give us a minute? And then, Leo, could you take Cole back to his home?"  
  
Nodding, Leo placed a hand on Piper's back as Paige and Samantha shuffled toward the living room. Piper hesitated, staring meaningfully at Cole for a few seconds before Leo's hand on her back urged her forward.  
  
Before any of them could reach the next room, a tall demon clothed completely in gray materialized in front of them and hurled an athame, which sunk deep into Leo's chest. Stumbling backwards with a gasp, Leo looked from the knife to the demon before crumpling on the floor. 


	12. Chapter 12

"Oh my God! Leo!" Piper cried as she watched her husband fall to the floor.  
  
Samantha felt panic rise in her chest as Leo's limbs went limp. "No, no, no, no. Not again. Daddy!"  
  
As she moved toward to her father, the demon grabbed her roughly, trapping her arms against her side and pressing a blade to her throat.  
  
"What the hell?" At Paige's outburst, Samantha looked over to see that her aunt had also been captured much as she had and then yet another demon materialized in the center of the room where Phoebe and Cole stood, jerking Phoebe against him and pinning her arms.  
  
"Piper, freeze them!" Phoebe yelled as she tried to struggle against her captor's hold.  
  
"I've been trying. They won't freeze." Piper looked to the demon that was holding Samantha. "What do you want? What did you do to my husband?"  
  
Sam heard the demon laugh, his breath puffing against her ear. "Darklighter poison--only more effective. He should be dead in about ten minutes or so. As for what we want..." The demon turned, moving Sam in front of him like a shield until he was facing Cole. "We came to stop you, my liege."  
  
"'My liege'?" Phoebe glared at Cole. "You know these guys? I can't believe you set us up, Cole."  
  
"No, this is not a set up." Cole struggled against his impulse to use his powers, realizing that he had none. "I'm not anyone's liege. I've never seen these guys before."  
  
"You may not know us now," the gray-clad demon continued, "but you will. At least you will in the future we are trying to protect."  
  
Samantha bit her lip nervously. Her coming here must have alerted the other side, and they must have sent these demons to stop her from changing the future. She felt a sinking in her stomach and began to tremble. She had come to keep her family safe, but now they were in just as much danger as they were in her time.  
  
"You are the future of evil, sir." The demon smiled almost gleefully. "You cannot jeopardize your destiny, and ours, by trying to be vanquished."  
  
Piper glanced around the room, trying to size up the situation and weigh her options. Even though the demons were immune to her freezing power, she could try to blow them up, but the demons holding Paige and Phoebe were shielding themselves too well with her sisters. She was afraid that if she tried to vanquish them, she might blow up one of her sisters instead. Piper turned her attention to the demon in gray that held Samantha. As the demon spoke to Cole, he turned slightly, giving Piper a clear shot at his back. At the thought of accidentally hurting Samantha, Piper hesitated, but she realized that she needed to take the risk.  
  
Raising her hands, Piper paused for a second before unleashing her power on the demon. As if he had sensed what she was doing, the demon raised a hand in her direction and it glowed, absorbing her power. Turning to Piper, he sneered. "I am immune to your powers, witch." He waved his arm, flinging the explosion back at her, and the baby's shield materialized, deflecting it.  
  
"And I'm immune to yours," Piper replied.  
  
"Unfortunately," the demon said as he pulled Samantha more tightly against him, "your daughter is not. So if you don't want to watch her die before she is even born, you'll do as we ask." He pressed the knife more closely against Sam's throat and she whimpered in pain.  
  
Piper felt her heart beat jump and a tightening in her chest, and she wordlessly lowered her hands.  
  
"Look, I don't want to be the future of evil." The demon turned his attention back to Cole. "Besides, you're too late. They've all ready stripped my powers."  
  
At Cole's revelation, Samantha felt her captor's hold loosen, the blade no longer pressing so firmly against her throat, and she contemplated trying to escape him.  
  
"Then the witches will just have to reverse whatever magic they performed," the demon said, his voice breaking a little.  
  
As he spoke Sam felt his hold loosen a little more, and she tried to squirm free, pulling the knife away from her throat. The demon that had captured Paige drew back an arm, forming an energy ball in his hand that he threw at Samantha.  
  
"No!" Piper cried, but before she could react, Cole stepped in front of her daughter, the energy ball hitting him squarely in the chest and throwing him backwards onto the floor.  
  
Her captor distracted, Paige managed to free one of her hands and called for the athame he was holding to her throat. Turning, she rammed it into his stomach, and the demon screamed as he disappeared in flames.  
  
Phoebe also managed to escape her captor's grasp. "Piper!" Phoebe yelled as soon as she had freed herself from his hold, causing Piper to turn and blow him up.  
  
Samantha finally struggled free as the demon in gray looked to Cole's body sprawled on the floor, his mouth opening in shock. "You killed him," he murmured softly. Turning back to the sisters, his face twisted in anger. "You killed him!"  
  
He drew back his arm, preparing to attack, but before he could use his powers he erupted in flames, screaming as the fire consumed him.  
  
"What the..." Paige gaped and the demon disappeared in a wisp of smoke.  
  
"I used the baby's powers." Piper motioned urgently to Paige. "Quick. Come heal Leo."  
  
Hurrying to Leo's side, Paige kneeled next to him and gently pulled the knife from his chest. Taking one of his hands in both of hers, she held their joined hands over his injury and concentrated. After a few seconds, Leo's hand began to glow and the wound vanished, restoring his clothes as well.  
  
Leo's eyes fluttered open, and he sat up abruptly in panic. "Piper? What happened?" He looked from his wife to Paige. "Is everyone all right?"  
  
"No, Cole's hurt. You need to heal him," Paige said as she helped Leo stand.  
  
"No, you don't." Everyone turned at the sound of Phoebe's voice. She was sitting next to Cole's body, holding one of his hands in hers, her eyes glassy with tears. "He's all ready dead."  
  
"Oh my God," Paige breathed as her stomach lurched in shock. She moved over to Phoebe, sitting next to her and placing an arm around her sister's shoulders. "I'm so sorry, honey."  
  
Looking down at Cole's hand, Phoebe nodded sadly. "It's okay." She breathed in shakily, blinking away tears. "Before he died, he said, uh...He said that this was for the best. That now he knew he couldn't hurt us. And that, uh, that he was glad he died trying to keep my family safe." As she finished speaking, Phoebe's emotions overwhelmed her and she pressed a hand to her face as tears began flowing from her eyes. Paige pulled her close and Phoebe rested her head against her sister's shoulder.  
  
Piper silently stared down at Cole, mindlessly rubbing her thumb against the seam inside of her sleeve. She wasn't sure what she should be feeling right now. Relief? Remorse? Guilt? Satisfaction? Somehow all of those emotions seemed to hit her at once. Cole had been a piece of their lives for so long, and a part of her couldn't quite believe he was really gone this time.  
  
But there was something very final in the way his body laid on the floor utterly still--head turned to the side, arms spread, one of his legs twisted a little unnaturally. He was dead; he wasn't coming back this time. And he had died saving her daughter.  
  
"Thank you, Cole," Piper murmured, smiling slightly.  
  
After a moment, Piper's brow furrowed and she glanced anxiously around the room. Leaning in close to Leo, she whispered, "Where's Sam?" 


	13. Chapter 13

After flicking off the light in the foyer, Paige started up the staircase, trailing her hand along the banister, which felt cool against her skin. At the top of the stairs she paused and stared apprehensively at the door to Phoebe's bedroom. In the dim light of the hallway, Paige could see light creeping out from under the door but she hesitated at knocking, uncertain of whether to offer support or to leave her sister alone. Before she could decide, the door opened and Phoebe emerged from her bedroom, stopping short when she noticed Paige.  
  
"Hi. I was, uh, just on my way to the bathroom," Phoebe said gesturing down the hall. "But if you wanted to use it--"  
  
"No, I was going to my room." Paige's eyes tried to hold her sister's, which wavered a little in awkwardness. "I didn't want to bother you, but I was wondering how you're doing."  
  
Sighing, Phoebe crossed her arms over her stomach and leaned back against the doorframe. "I'm...okay. I don't think I've completely accepted yet that he's really gone for good this time."  
  
Paige smiled softly. "I know what you mean."  
  
Phoebe stared over Paige's shoulder past her sister at the wall for several moments, lost in thought. "You know, for months I've been so focused on pushing Cole out of my life. Making him evil in my mind made it easier for me to let go of him, but I also made myself forget everything that he's done for us." Laughing sheepishly, Phoebe's gaze returned to Paige. "I know you never liked Cole much--"  
  
"But I remember everything he did to help us," Paige said reassuringly.  
  
Heaving an aggrieved sigh, Phoebe closed her eyes, shaking her head. "I wish he would have told me about what happened with the Hollow. Maybe then I could have helped him and we wouldn't have had to go through--" Stopping herself, Phoebe smiled ruefully. "I'm doing it again. I can't keep blaming him for my mistakes."  
  
"Phoebe..." Paige began.  
  
"It's okay, Paige." Phoebe waved off her sister's concern. "I'm grateful for what Cole did today, and it's good to know that the future Sam was from won't happen. But that doesn't mean that the possibility of my...turning died with Cole. I can still feel it inside of me." Phoebe glanced shamefully down at the floor.  
  
With an understanding look, Paige took Phoebe's hand in hers. "It's inside all of us."  
  
Phoebe smiled dryly. "Yeah, but neither you or Piper have ever turned evil willingly."  
  
"You never know," Paige said. "Different circumstances, we might have--"  
  
Phoebe shook her head. "No. You wouldn't. Both of you care more about this family than yourselves. And that's something I need to do in the future."  
  
After a few moments of silence, Paige gestured down the hallway towards her room. "I'm going to head to bed, but if you feel like talking some more I'll probably be awake for another half an hour or so."  
  
With a smile Phoebe squeezed her hand in gratitude. "Thanks, Paige."  
  
Paige turned to walk to her bedroom. "How's Piper?" At Phoebe's question, Paige paused and looked over her shoulder at her sister.  
  
"She's...okay, I guess. She was freaking out when Sam was first missing, but Leo managed to calm her down a little after he checked with the Elders. She still seemed upset when she went upstairs though."  
  
"Yeah. I heard her come up a while ago, but I wasn't sure if I should...I thought she might want to be alone with Leo." Glancing at the door to Piper and Leo's bedroom, Phoebe looked for light coming from beneath it but saw none. "Looks like she's all ready gone to sleep. I guess I'll talk to her in the morning." Phoebe's eyes met Paige's.  
  
"Good night." As Paige moved quietly down the hallway, Phoebe stared intently at the door to Piper's bedroom until she heard Paige's door close. After a moment of consideration, Phoebe moved across the hall and silently turned the doorknob. Slowly, she inched the door open and peered into the dark of Piper's room.  
  
As Piper lay in bed staring vacantly into the darkness, she noticed a strip of light appear and then grow wider as the door to her room opened. When a face filled the gap, she shut her eyes and feigned sleep until she heard it close again.  
  
She had been trying to fall asleep for at least an hour, but sleep had eluded her; her mind seemed to almost hum with thoughts. So much had happened in one day that it almost seemed as though she was awakening from an intense dream. Only Piper had not just woken up or even gone to sleep.  
  
She was trying to remember all of it--trying to make everything more real in her mind--only images kept fading, growing fuzzy and some things had disappeared from her memory completely.  
  
A chill went through her and Piper shivered, pulling the comforter more closely around her. Beside her, Leo shifted. She heard him sigh and then grow silent and she thought he had fallen asleep again. Then Piper felt his hand on her side, his body pressing against her back, offering her warmth.  
  
"You okay?" His voice did not sound groggy so perhaps he had not been sleeping as she had thought.  
  
"Yeah. I just had a little chill." Piper leaned back against him and Leo moved his hand to protectively rest on her stomach.  
  
"Do you want another blanket?"  
  
"No. I'm better now."  
  
Leo rested his head next to hers and Piper felt his warm breath against her neck. Her thoughts returning to Samantha, Piper placed a hand on top of Leo's that rested on her belly.  
  
"Are you sure you're okay?" Propping himself up on his elbow, Leo looked down at his wife.  
  
Turning slightly, Piper gazed up at him. "Leo, I'm fine. It was just a chill--"  
  
"No, I meant are you okay with everything?"  
  
Piper sighed. "I'm not sure. A lot of stuff happened to day and everything's still sinking in."  
  
"Yeah, I know what you mean." As he had been trying to fall asleep for the past several hours, he couldn't seem to make his mind shut off. His thoughts kept returning to his daughter. Leo glanced down to where, despite the blanket and comforter that disguised most of the shape of their bodies, he could still see the outline of Piper's stomach.  
  
"Leo?" His eyes strayed back to Piper's face. "Are you sure there's no way that Cole's coming back?"  
  
A little uncertainly, Leo heaved a sigh. "I don't think so. He was just a mortal when he died so he wasn't sent to the Wasteland. He shouldn't be able to come back like he did last time--his soul should have just moved on to the afterlife."  
  
"You know, in a weird way, I'm going to miss him," Piper said, the corner of her mouth drawing back slightly in an ironic smile. "He's been a fixture in our lives for so long. Even as I remember all of the times he's tried to kill us, I can remember as many times that he helped us or saved us." Piper paused as tears began to form in her eyes. "He...saved..." She breathed deeply and Leo felt her squeeze his hand tightly.  
  
"He saved our daughter," Leo stated, saying what Piper seemed unable to articulate.  
  
With a self-deprecating laugh, Piper wiped the tears from her eyes. "Is it strange for me to miss her?"  
  
Leo smiled softly. "No, I miss her too. But it's good to know that she's safe."  
  
Shaking her head, Piper's chin quivered. "But we don't really know if she's safe or not. I mean, we might know that what brought her here won't happen because of the way she just vanished, but we don't know if this new future that we've created will be better or worse--" She paused when she felt her emotions swelling inside of her, threatening to overtake her. "I don't know what scares me the most, Leo: the thought of dying, the thought of losing you, or the thought of what our dying would do to our daughter. I never wanted her to have to go through what I did when my mom died, but I can't ignore that she might have to..."  
  
As her emotions overwhelmed her, Piper began to sob, her ability to speak fading. Shushing her, Leo drew her more tightly against him and fit his face into the curve of her neck, pressing a kiss on her shoulder.  
  
After a few moments, Piper managed to say through her tears, "I don't want to lose you."  
  
"Shhh...you're not going to lose me," Leo whispered.  
  
"But it seems like every time we have a glimpse of the future, in that future we've grown apart somehow. Doesn't it seem to you like something in the universe has decided that we just aren't meant to be?"  
  
Leo remained silent for a while as Piper's sobs quieted. "No. It seems to me that something in the universe has decided that we need to stay together, and these glimpses that we've been shown are supposed to make us try harder to make that happen."  
  
Considering his words carefully Piper tried to accept them--she tried to turn her despair into hope, her doubt into conviction.  
  
"Leo." Leo lifted his head to look down into her eyes. "I love you."  
  
A smile crept across his face and he gently brushed her hair back from her damp face. "I love you too."  
  
Piper placed a hand on top of Leo's and pressed it firmly. "I'll remember that."  
  
===========================  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
  
I began this story after watching "Sam I Am" ("Daddy Dearest") and after it had been confirmed that Julian McMahon did not intend to stay through the end of season five. This story is basically how I envisioned Cole's death. The ending changed a bit as I wrote it, but my motives never did. I didn't write this story because I hate Cole and I want to plot out his death as many ways possible because his death(s) on the show were not enough for me.  
  
I don't think that I altered any crucial law of the Charmed universe, with perhaps the exception of being able to kill Leo with a dagger dipped in darklighter poison instead of an arrow. But I figured since it was the future I could change things up a bit. The rest is just written from my viewpoint of certain events, such as why Cole did not tell Phoebe that the Source was inside of him in "The Three Faces of Phoebe." Feel free to disagree with my interpretations, but I think my viewpoints hold up against events that occurred on the show.  
  
Thanks for reading my story. 


End file.
